After profitable 12 seats within the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) could make or break the probabilities of the BJP-led Nationwide Democratic Alliance coming to energy.
The Bihar Chief Minister has a historical past of switching sides. On Wednesday (June 5) morning, he was noticed travelling to Delhi in the identical flight because the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav. Though spokespersons of each the events stated it was solely a “coincidence”, Tejashwi, who spoke to the media after touchdown in Delhi, stated, “Have some persistence. Wait and watch. We greeted one another. Baaki kya hota hai, aage aage dekhte rahiye.”
The event has come a day after the stunning election outcomes, wherein the ruling BJP fell in need of reaching the bulk mark. Nonetheless, the NDA, which incorporates JD(U), has managed to cobble collectively 293 seats — simply 21 greater than the required variety of seats to kind the federal government. The INDIA alliance, led by the Indian Nationwide Congress (INC), gained 232 seats — INC obtained 99.
Here’s a have a look at the previous situations of Nitish’s ‘flip-flops’.
1. 2024: Disenchanted with the INDIA alliance
In January this 12 months, Nitish joined the NDA after breaking ties with the RJD and INDIA bloc at nationwide degree. The JD(U) chief, who was ruling Bihar with help from the RJD, gave a number of causes for leaving his allies and stated he had been “sensing an unease within the present political set-up”. Nitesh continued because the state’s Chief Minister, solely now with the help of the BJP-led NDA.
The Indian Specific experiences on the time prompt that the chief made the choice pondering that his celebration’s probabilities of profitable the 2024 Lok Sabha polls could be higher below Modi’s management.
2. 2022: Upset with the BJP
Nonetheless, in August 2022, Nitish thought the exact opposite. As a part of the NDA, he discovered his celebration following behind the BJP in Bihar. He was upset with the BJP as JD(U)’s tally within the Meeting plummeted from 71 in 2015 to 43 seats within the 2020 polls whereas the BJP’s seat rely elevated from 53 to 74, which was subsequent solely to the RJD’s 75.
He additionally believed that the BJP was utilizing Chirag Paswan and his celebration Lok Janshakti Social gathering (LJP) to chop JD(U)’s vote shares in Bihar.
In the end, the discontent pushed Nitish to modify over to the opposite aspect.
3. 2017: Corruption expenses towards the RJD
Nitish and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav collectively pulled off a serious upset for the BJP within the 2015 Bihar Legislative Meeting. The JD(U), RJD, and Congress have been a part of the Mahagathbandhan, which gained 178 out of the 243 seats within the state.
Nonetheless, the coalition didn’t final for lengthy. In 2017, as corruption expenses emerged towards then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi, Nitesh demanded his ally to resign. When Tejashwi refused to take action, the JD(U) dumped the alliance and joined the NDA.
4. 2013: Promotion of Narendra Modi
Nitish broke his 17-year-old alliance with the NDA in June 2013 after then Gujarat Chief Minister Modi was appointed because the BJP’s ballot marketing campaign chief — it was seen as step one towards saying Modi because the celebration’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The JD(U) chief accused the BJP of “betraying” and “cornering” its elders in an indirect reference to the sidelining of L Okay Advani.