After winning 12 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) can make or break the chances of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power.
The Bihar Chief Minister has a history of switching sides. On Wednesday (June 5) morning, he was spotted travelling to Delhi in the same flight as the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav. Although spokespersons of both the parties said it was only a “coincidence”, Tejashwi, who spoke to the media after landing in Delhi, said, “Have some patience. Wait and watch. We greeted each other. Baaki kya hota hai, aage aage dekhte rahiye.”
The development has come a day after the surprising election results, in which the ruling BJP fell short of reaching the majority mark. However, the NDA, which includes JD(U), has managed to cobble together 293 seats — just 21 more than the required number of seats to form the government. The INDIA alliance, led by the Indian National Congress (INC), won 232 seats — INC received 99.
Here is a look at the past instances of Nitish’s ‘flip-flops’.
1. 2024: Disenchanted with the INDIA alliance
In January this year, Nitish joined the NDA after breaking ties with the RJD and INDIA bloc at national level. The JD(U) chief, who was ruling Bihar with support from the RJD, gave several reasons for leaving his allies and said he had been “sensing an unease in the current political set-up”. Nitesh continued as the state’s Chief Minister, only now with the support of the BJP-led NDA.
The Indian Express reports at the time suggested that the leader made the decision thinking that his party’s chances of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be better under Modi’s leadership.
2. 2022: Upset with the BJP
However, in August 2022, Nitish thought the complete opposite. As part of the NDA, he found his party following behind the BJP in Bihar. He was upset with the BJP as JD(U)’s tally in the Assembly plummeted from 71 in 2015 to 43 seats in the 2020 polls while the BJP’s seat count increased from 53 to 74, which was next only to the RJD’s 75.
He also believed that the BJP was using Chirag Paswan and his party Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) to cut JD(U)’s vote shares in Bihar.
Ultimately, the discontent pushed Nitish to switch over to the other side.
3. 2017: Corruption charges against the RJD
Nitish and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav together pulled off a major upset for the BJP in the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly. The JD(U), RJD, and Congress were part of the Mahagathbandhan, which won 178 out of the 243 seats in the state.
However, the coalition did not last for long. In 2017, as corruption charges emerged against then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi, Nitesh demanded his ally to resign. When Tejashwi refused to do so, 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 as the BJP’s poll campaign chief — it was seen as the first step toward announcing Modi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The JD(U) leader accused the BJP of “betraying” and “cornering” its elders in an oblique reference to the sidelining of L K Advani.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
