The INDIA bloc appears to be unravelling as a third key leader -- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- appears likely to walk out. Sources said it is likely that Mr Kumar, in a last-minute U-turn, will partner the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Over the last two days, two key leaders -- Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal -- have ruled out any alliance with the Congress and said they would go solo in Bengal and Punjab.
Sources said even though state BJP leaders are skeptical about Nitish Kumar's return, top leadership of the party has made up its mind and issued a gag order for the state unit.
The ruling alliance, caught unawares, has been trying to pacify the irked Chief Minister. Sources said Lalu Yadav has already dialled Mr Kumar. The Congress, too, is trying to get on the hotline to get him to join the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra when it enters Bihar.
For Mr Kumar, 72, this would be the fifth change of camp. Since 2013, he has been swinging between the NDA and the mahagathbandhan, all the while keeping his job in the state intact. He switched sides last in 2022, just three years after he had walked out of the Grand Alliance and joined the NDA.
The signs have all been there over the last weeks, with the Chief Minister's sharp comments on dynastic politics and the subsequent retort from Lalu Yadav's daughter expanding the rift. Yesterday, his lack of response to the Congress invitation for Bharat Jodo Yatra, put a question mark on his appearance.
Sources said Mr Kumar has been upset over the lack of clarity in INDIA bloc's poll preparations and being passed over as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate. The delays to seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha polls had been a further aggravation.
The Centre's Bharat Ratna for former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur appears to have been a turning point scripted in advance.
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January 25, 2024 at 05:38PM
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Nitish Kumar May Exit Alliance In Bihar, Likely To Go With BJP Again: Sources - NDTV
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