With political turmoil in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has severed its ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a key meeting of all JD(U) MPs and MLAs on Tuesday, 9 August, sources told The Quint.
Kumar told the MPs and MLAs that he no longer wants to have ties with a party that tries to split its alliance partner.
JD(U) leaders present in the meeting told Kumar that he has all the freedom needed to make a decision and that they will back him regardless.
Earlier, Nalanda MP Kaushalendra had claimed that the BJP had offered Rs 6 crore each to JD(U) MLAs, tempting them to break away from the party.
BJP's 'Chirag Model': JD(U) President Lalan Singh
Even on Sunday, JD(U) President Lalan Singh had said that the ‘Chirag model’ was adopted to weaken Nitish Kumar in the 2020 Assembly elections.
Lalan had claimed that the second version of the ‘Chirag model’ was being brought back in the form of RCP Singh (who resigned on Saturday), but JD(U) recognised it in time.
In fact, due to the ‘Chirag model,’ the Assembly constituencies where JD(U) contested in 2020, Lok Janata Party (LJP) also fielded its candidates. This dealt a big blow to JD(U) and its number of seats came down to 43.
Citing this the JD(U) President said that the attempt to reduce the stature of JD(U) started in 2020 itself. Nitish Kumar is also said to be angry with BJP's national president JP Nadda's remarks pointing to the elimination of small parties.
It has been speculated that for these reasons, Nitish Kumar now wants to teach a lesson to the BJP. By giving RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav the main responsibility in the government, he will continue on the post of CM.
A strategy for the same is expected to be declared soon.
Tejashwi Yadav Asked To Be Made Home Minister in New Cabinet: Sources
Meanwhile, the JD(U)'s negotiations are underway with RJD, which has demanded that Tejashwi Yadav be made the home minister in the new cabinet. The RJD has also demanded the speaker's post, sources told The Quint.
The Opposition parties led by RJD, including Congress and Left parties, have decided to support Tejashwi Yadav in any decision that he takes regarding the coalition.
The Opposition parties are likely to meet Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna later on Tuesday to hand over the letter of support.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union Minister Kaushal Kishore said that the BJP never took any steps to irk Nitish Kumar and would want him to "continue as the chief minister."
‘Nitish Kumar Betrayed People of Bihar’: BJP
Though the party leadership was aware of CM Nitish Kumar's uneasiness over a host of issues, a number of BJP leaders were still left shocked at the swift turn of events in Bihar.
Even until Monday, some senior BJP leaders, including those from Bihar, were of the thinking that this might be a bluff in order to make the saffron party more accommodative of demands.
After CM Nitish Kumar resigned, Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said that the people of Bihar would "never forgive" him.
"We fought the 2020 polls together under NDA, the mandate was for JD(U) and BJP. We won more seats, despite that Nitish Kumar was made the chief minister. Whatever happened today is a betrayal of Bihar's people and the BJP," Jaiswal said.
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