NDA had contested the 2019 elections with Nitish Kumar. 39 out of 40 seats were won. Nitish had gone with the Grand Alliance in August 2022. A source who was a minister in Nitish’s old government says that due to this, there was a possibility of half the seats of NDA in Bihar. Apart from this, some impact was possible in other states. The former minister from RJD quota admitted that with Nitish joining BJP, NDA may overall gain 20-22 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has achieved this by making a big move. He brought Nitish to NDA, but by tying the hands and feet of the Chief Minister. The source says that this is the secret behind making Vijay Sinha and Samrat Chaudhary Deputy CM.
A source in Tejashwi Yadav’s secretariat says that the former Deputy Chief Minister was in trouble for the last 4-5 days. It is said that RJD was aware of Nitish’s gesture of changing sides two weeks in advance. The Chief Minister had shown a glimpse of this in the meeting of India Alliance in the second week of January. It is said that then a minister from RJD quota had warned during a function. The minister had said that if Nitish Babu finds the grapes sour, he will change sides again. It is said that after Nitish Kumar’s return to the Grand Alliance, RJD was doing more appeasement due to the fear of him changing sides.
Former Chief Minister of Congress says that after the first phase of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the opposition got a big respite. Nitish Kumar left the India alliance in the middle of Gandhi’s second phase of Nyay Yatra. This will help BJP and it will take time to compensate. Whereas in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, we are short of time. Senior Patna journalist Sanjay Verma says that Lalu Prasad Yadav had taken the initiative to link Nitish with Congress and India alliance. Now Nitish Kumar has left Congress and joined NDA. The entire opposition will suffer losses due to this. Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed Khan also believes that Congress had more confidence in Lalu Prasad in the matter of secularism. However, Shivanand Tiwari, a leader ideologically close to Lalu and Nitish, believes that this time the reason for Nitish leaving the Grand Alliance is Congress. Congress did not give due importance to Nitish Kumar. Shivanand believes that Nitish is ambitious. Ambition in politics is not bad, but if prudence had been used, this situation would not have arisen.
Congress could not resolve the disturbed rhythm between two leaders
Nitish Kumar had approached Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to launch the India Alliance. After Mamata Banerjee’s yes, he spoke to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and others. Congress sources say that the date for the first meeting of the alliance was fixed without taking the Congress into full confidence. But after this, there was no coordination between Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar. It is said that after reaching the meeting in Patna, Mamata Banerjee gave the highest praise to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family. In the meeting held in Bengaluru, the proposal to name the alliance India came from Mamata Banerjee. It is said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave his opinion, but only the name of India Alliance was finalized. Nitish and Lalu Prasad had left this meeting before time. Another source, who was a minister in the UPA government, says that after the Bengaluru meeting, there was no positive warmth in Nitish Kumar’s attitude.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has also already said that he had an idea of Nitish Kumar’s stance. It is believed that Congress strategists had guessed a lot in the meeting of India Alliance two weeks ago. It is said that there were many types of confusions regarding making Nitish Kumar the coordinator of India Alliance. Before appointing Mallikarjun Kharge as the president of the alliance, a lot of indications were given when the proposal was made to declare him the future Prime Minister. A Congress MLA from Bihar also believes that Rahul Gandhi’s statement regarding the post of coordinator must have troubled Nitish Kumar from within? In this, Rahul Gandhi had said that Mamata Banerjee has objection to making Nitish Kumar the coordinator. Shivanand Tiwari calls this the bullying of Congress. On top of that, the tweet by Lalu’s daughter Rohini Acharya infuriated Nitish. By January 2024, Nitish, Lalu and Mamata Banerjee started standing at three angles. In the middle was the Congress and India alliance. An RJD leader says that Nitish Kumar has been arbitrarily running everything in his own way for the last decade. On top of that, this Rohini adds salt to his wound. Rohini Acharya has reacted again. It is said that the garbage (Nitish) has gone back to the dustbin. This comment of Lalu Prasad’s beloved daughter is saying a lot.
Amit Shah has made a big move, will not let Nitish’s dreams come true
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has made a big move. Many experts who understand the politics of Bihar agree with former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav’s statement that JD(U) is weak. Prashant Kishore has already made his prediction. Prime Minister Modi may have given assurance to Nitish Kumar, who has joined the NDA for the third time, by calling him, but Shah, who is well-versed in political astuteness, has not opened this window easily. To Nitish’s right, BJP State President Samrat Chauhari and to his left, former Assembly Speaker Vijay Sinha, have been appointed as Deputy CMs. The Assembly Speaker will also be from BJP. Earlier, Vijay Sinha was cursing Nitish Kumar after drinking water. Nitish Kumar had also complained about Samrat Chaudhary in his previous NDA government. The Chief Minister had made a strong statement on the floor by targeting Vijay Sinha. It is believed that the path is not very easy for Nitish Kumar who returned for the third time. Nitish wants to restore the status of JD(U) as the number one party in Bihar, but now Amit Shah and BJP strategists are not going to give him this opportunity. In the 2020 assembly elections, BJP had defeated Nitish Kumar with efficient strategy. It is believed that this is possible to be repeated in the game between elder brother and younger brother.
BJP was preparing to contest elections on 30-32 seats
After Nitish Kumar joined the grand alliance, Samrat Chaudhary took charge as BJP state president. Samrat Chaudhary has been a minister in the Rabri Devi government. Is a vocal leader. Had joined BJP seven years ago. Like Vijay Sinha, he has a down to earth attitude. This time BJP’s plan was to contest elections on 30-32 out of 40 seats in Bihar. A Union Minister of Bihar smiles mischievously and says that now 10-12 of these seats will have to be left for Nitish Kumar’s party. The source says that in 2019 he contested on 17 seats and won all of them. This time also BJP had to win 25-26 seats. The allies would win the rest. However, this time BJP may have to struggle to win Bihar. Because the party of Chirag Paswan and Pashupati Kumar Paras has demanded 06 seats like last time. Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi are also to be given seats in the Lok Sabha. In such a situation, it may be difficult to settle JD(U)’s share by giving 17 seats like in 2019.
