Nitish Kumar dumped BJP despite Amit Shah’s phone call

India

oi-Prakash KL

New
Delhi,
Aug
10:
Nitish
Kumar,
who
took
oath
as
the
Chief
Minister
of
Bihar
for
the
eighth
time
on
Wednesday,
refused
to
continue
with
the
NDA
alliance
despite
getting
assurance
from
Union
Home
Minister
Amit
Shah
that
“there
was
nothing
to
worry
about.”

Speaking
in
an
interview
with
NDTV,
former
Bihar
deputy
CM
and
BJP
leader
Sushil
Modi
said
that
Nitish
Kumar
had
received
a
call
from
Amit
Shah
two
days
before
he
decided
to
end
the
alliance
with
the
BJP.
“Two
days
back,
Amit
Shah
called
Nitish
Kumar.
Nitish
said
there’s
nothing
to
worry
about.
PM
[Narendra]
Modi
also
spoke
to
Nitish
many
times
in
the
last
1.5
years,
but
he
never
complained,”
the
TV
channel
quoted
Modi
as
saying.

Startling
allegations
of
backstabbing
were
made
against
the
BJP
by
MLAs
and
MPs
of
the
JD(U)
on
Tuesday
at
a
meeting
after
which
Nitish
Kumar
pulled
the
plug
on
the
alliance.

According
to
PTI
sources
in
the
JD(U),
who
did
not
wish
to
be
named,
information,
including
call
details,
were
shared
which
suggested
that
former
national
president
RCP
Singh,
who
resigned
from
the
primary
membership
last
week,
had
contacted
“about
a
dozen
MLAs
and
a
minister
at
the
BJP’s
behest,
with
the
intention
to
split
the
party”.

The
JD(U)
lawmakers,
who
unanimously
backed
Kumar’s
decision
to
dump
the
BJP,
were
of
the
view
that
things
went
fine
till
the
2019
Lok
Sabha
polls
which
the
two
parties,
along
with
late
Union
minister
Ram
Vilas
Paswan’s
Lok
Janshakti
Party,
had
swept,
winning
all
but
one
of
the
40
seats
in
the
state.

“However,
the
BJP
changed
its
colours
once
the
assembly
polls
of
2020
approached.
It
was
clearly
behind
the
rebellion
of
Chirag
Paswan
who
openly
spoke
of
dislodging
Nitish
Kumar
and
fielded
his
candidates,
many
of
them
so-called
rebels
of
the
BJP,
in
all
seats
the
JD(U)
contested,”
the
same
sources
said.

They
also
alleged
that
RCP
Singh,
who
was
then
the
national
general
secretary
(organisation),
had
tried
to
ensure
defeat
of
many
JD(U)
candidates
whom
he
did
not
like.

Paswan’s
brinkmanship,
coupled
with
Singh’s
alleged
role,
indeed,
proved
costly
to
the
JD(U)
a
lot
as
its
tally
plunged
to
43,
from
71
in
the
2015
assembly
polls
which
the
party
had
contested
in
alliance
with
the
RJD
and
the
Congress.

Singh
went
on
to
clinch
a
berth
in
the
Union
cabinet
a
few
months
after
Kumar
returned
as
chief
minister
for
yet
another
term.
His
induction,
however,
did
not
have
the
approval
of
Kumar,
the
party’s
de
facto
leader,
and
he
was
denied
another
Rajya
Sabha
term
which
caused
him
to
resign.

The
JD(U)
leaders
also
complained
of
“non-cooperation”
by
ministers
belonging
to
the
BJP,
which
had
a
lion’s
share
in
the
cabinet
owing
to
the
saffron
camp’s
superior
numerical
strength
in
the
Assembly.

Meanwhile,
JD(U)
leader
Nitish
Kumar
on
Wednesday
took
oath
as
Bihar
Chief
Minister
in
a
no-frills
ceremony
at
Raj
Bhavan,
a
day
after
snapping
ties
with
the
BJP-led
NDA
and
joining
hands
with
the
RJD
to
form
a
‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.

Kumar
was
sworn
in
besides
RJD’s
Tejashwi
Yadav,
who
is
likely
to
be
designated
as
his
deputy.