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Nitish Kumar quits INDIA bloc, joins NDA: Timeline of how things unfolded today
Nitish Kumar on Sunday staked claim to form a new government in Bihar with his former ally - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Nitish Kumar, in yet another flip-flop move, exited the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday and staked claim to form a new government in Bihar with his former ally - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The JD(U) leader took oath as the chief minister for the ninth time along with his two deputies from BJP - Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha.
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Nitish's exit led to the collapse of the Mahagathbandhan government since they drastically fell short of 45 JD(U) MLAs. Notably, if a party or a coalition wants to form a government in the 243-member Bihar assembly, then they must have the support of at least 122 MLAs. With the JD(U) rejoining the BJP-led NDA alliance, they now have a majority of 127 MLAs.
Also read: Bihar politics: Why did Nitish Kumar leave NDA and form government with RJD in 2022?
Let's take a look at how things unfolded today in Bihar - A timeline
10:15 am - A meeting of JD(U) legislations began at Nitish Kumar's house. Simultaneously, a meeting of BJP legislators took place at the BJP office in Bihar's Veer Chand Patel Marg.
10:35 am - Several barricades were put in front of the Raj Bhawan.
10:44 am - Security activity around the Raj Bhawan increased, with sources reporting that Nitish Kumar will resign from the CM post. Simultaneously, the BJP will hand over the letter of support to Kumar, the sources added.
10:50 am - JD(U) legislators authorised Nitish to take a decision.
10:57 am - Reports of Nitish's swearing-in ceremony later in the day began.
10:59 am - Nitish Kumar left for Raj Bhawan.
11:02 am - Nitish handed his resignation to governor Rajendra Arlekar along with letters of support from the BJP legislators.
11:13 am - JD(U) legislators said that Nitish informed them it was becoming “difficult” to work with RJD.
11:15 am - Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Nitish Kumar to congratulate him.
11:20 am - Nitish Kumar addressed the media in his first reaction after tendering his resignation, saying the decision to dissolve the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government was taken after observing unprecedented conditions in the coalition. “Situations within the coalition were not favourable. I tendered my resignation today after considering all the views from leaders of my party," he said.
11:54 am - BJP state president Samrat Choudhary and BJP legislator party leader Vijay Kumar Sinha announced as deputy chief ministers.
12:15 pm - BJP legislators leave for a joint meeting with JD(U) at Nitish Kumar's residence.
12:40 pm - Nitish Kumar was elected as NDA legislature party leader and staked claim to form the government.
5 pm - Nitish, along with his two deputies, took oath.
