Kochi: Despite heading a minority party, Nitish Kumar used his political upmanship to become the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eight time today.
Getting out of the tie up with the major party BJP of the NDA, Nitish went back to the erstwhile coalition of Mahagathbandhan that was formed in the state a few years back.
For getting the support of the Mahagathbandhan comprising RJD, Congress, CPM, CPI-ML, Nitish had to accommodate Tejashwi Yadav as his deputy as he is the leader of the 75 member party in the assembly.
Responding to the BJP’s claim that the party had the generosity to make him the Chief Minister despite leading a minority party, he said that it was the desire of the BJP that he should be the Chief Minister and that he never wanted to occupy the post.
Nitish has given the list of MLAs backing him in the assembly to the Governor.
He told the media that all the leaders of his party were unanimous in leaving the BJP.
The ties between Nitish Kumar and the BJP were not good for the past few years and it reached the flashpoint a few days back when he got information that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah was working to split his party. Also BJP leader J P Nadda’s statement that only BJP will remain and all other parties will perish had made him take the decision.
He first became Chief Minister in 2005 when the BJP-led NDA was voted to power in Bihar. The year 2010 saw him coming back to occupy the seat. In 2013 he split with the BJP after Narendra Modi was nominated party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. He formed the Mahagathbandhan by including RJD and the Congress. In 2014 Nitish Kumar resigned as Chief Minister owning up the moral responsibility for his alliance’s debacle in 2014 general elections. Jitan Ram Manjhi became Chief Minister in his place.
He returned to post after displacing Manjhi in 2015 amidst political drama.
Following this his alliance was swept back to power in the state elections. In 2017 he parted ways with the RJD on charges of corruption and renewed ties with the BJP.
He was part of the NDA during the general elections in2019 which brought BJP to power once again in the centre even as Nitish was not happy with the treatment meted out to his party at the centre.
In the 2020 election, his party managed to scrape through to become Chief Minister of the state.
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