Nitish Kumar to Stake Claim to Form Govt Today, BJP MLAs to Hand Letters of Support: Sources

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is all set to make his second political volte-face in less than two years, with sources saying that the JD(U) President is likely to tender his resignation on Sunday morning.

RJD leaders, meanwhile, held extensive deliberations on Sturday evening over the course of action to be followed in the event of Kumar calling off the alliance and returning to the NDA camp.

The BJP leaders met in Patna on Saturday, where the saffron party stopped short of making a formal announcement of support to the JD(U) chief in the event of his pulling out of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’. The BJP has called another meeting of the party MLAs and MPs at 9 am on Sunday.

Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of JD(U) MPs and MLAs at his residence at 10 am on Sunday. As per sources, some JD(U) MLAs have already met the Bihar CM and will be staying in Patna. Those MLAs who haven’t reached the state capital have been asked to reach as soon as possible, they said.

The BJP MLAs are expected to come to Nitish Kumar’s residence and hand over the letter of support to the chief minister. After a joint NDA meeting, Nitish will be chosen as the leader of the NDA legislators, sources further said.

The MLAs will then head of Raj Bhavan with the letter of support, while Nitish will tender his resignation and stake claim for a new government with the support of BJP MLAs. Then a time will be sought from the governor for oath-taking ceremony, they added.

Nitish Kumar will also sack all ministers of Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) tomorrow, sources have said. He is likely to replace the sacked ministers from the RJD with BJP faces.

The BJP and JD(U) have also finalised a seat-sharing agreement for the Lok Sabha election due in three months, as per reports.

So far, BJP leaders have refrained from making categorical statements about extending support to Nitish Kumar.

How the Crisis Unfolded?

The crisis in Bihar comes month after Nitish, the longest-serving CM of Bihar, embarked upon a drive to bring together all parties, across the country, to take on the BJP that culminated in the formation of the opposition INDIA bloc.

Kumar had also virtually declared Tejashwi Yadav as his successor, announcing that the RJD leader would head the Mahagathbandhan in the next assembly polls, scheduled in 2025. This had fuelled resentment in the JD(U), causing a close aide like Upendra Kushwaha to quit the party, float a new outfit and walk back to the NDA fold.

However, signs of mistrust between JD(U) and RJD became apparent last month when Kumar formally took over as the party president, replacing Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan amid reports of Lalan’s proximity with the RJD camp. However, Lalan had insisted that he gave up the top party post on his own because he wanted to concentrate on Munger, his Lok Sabha seat, in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Moreover, Kumar has also been voicing his anguish over the way things were unfolding in the INDIA coalition, in which he was not offered the post of a convenor until last month, when he turned it down. Kumar has maintained that he has “no personal ambitions” while remaining critical of the “delay” in arriving at a seat-sharing deal.