Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) supremo Nitish Kumar on Saturday said there is a need to think about how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is breaking away MLAs from other parties and if the same is constitutional. His comments came hours after at least five of the JDU's legislators moved over to the saffron camp in Manipur.
Kumar said when he split with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) weeks ago, all the six JDU legislators in Manipur had met him and assured the leadership of their commitment towards the party.
Kumar further predicted the Opposition's unity for the 2024 general election.
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“When we parted ways from the NDA, all our six Manipur MLAs came and met us and assured us they were with JDU. We need to think about what's going on. They're breaking away the MLAs from the parties, is it constitutional?... The Opposition will unify for the 2024 elections,” the Bihar CM told reporters.
The Manipur development came at a time when the JD(U), which had renewed ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to bring back the Mahagathbandhan government in power, is trying to project Kumar, for a bigger role. The JD(U) is holding its national executive meeting in Patna.
{{/usCountry}}The Manipur development came at a time when the JD(U), which had renewed ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to bring back the Mahagathbandhan government in power, is trying to project Kumar, for a bigger role. The JD(U) is holding its national executive meeting in Patna.
{{/usCountry}}Also read | 'But dreams to become PM': BJP mocks Nitish Kumar as 5 JD(U) MLAs in Manipur quit
Earlier in the day, JDU's national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan lashed out at the BJP for using "dhan bal" (money power) to poach legislators from other parties, while stating the saffron party's tricks will fall short from stopping the Kumar-led party to attain national status by 2023.
"Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD(U) from becoming a national party by 2023," Singh said.
The JD(U) national president added the BJP did in Manipur what it had "previously attempted in Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra".
"Our MLAs in Manipur had defeated BJP candidates at the hustings. Ditto in Arunachal Pradesh where our MLAs were poached while we were still in NDA," he added.