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Nitish-Lalu partnership set to return in Bihar, daughter tweets confirmation
Bihar Political Crisis: Nitish Kumar's exit from the alliance in Bihar would be a huge setback to the BJP.
The Nitish Kumar-Lalu Yadav partnership is set to return in Bihar as the JD(U) has finally broken ties with the BJP. Nitish Kumar is said to have sought a meeting with Governor Phagu Chauhan at 4 pm. Around 160 MLAs of the RJD and the JD(U) have reportedly sworn allegiance to the coalition.
After holding a huddle of the JD(U) MLAs at his residence earlier in the morning, the Bihar chief minister sought meeting with the governor.
“Get ready for the coronation, those with the lantern are set to return," tweeted Rohini Yadav, Lalu Yadav's daughter, along with a video amid a separate meeting of the Mahagathbandan MLAs.
In 2017, Nitish Kumar had walked out of the grand alliance coalition to stitch alliance with the BJP.
Bihar has a 243-member assembly. Of the total MLAs, the BJP has 77 legislators while the JD(U) has 45 members. The RJD is the single-largest party with 127 MLAs.
The RJD had held a separate meeting earlier in the day of its legislators.
Bihar has been witnessing hectic parleys since Monday after senior leader RCP Singh quit the JD (U) over the weekend. This was followed by an announcement by the JD (U) that it would no longer have representation in the union council of ministers.
On Monday, Nitish Kumar had briefly met his deputy Tarkishore Prasad of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On RCP's exit, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh - aka Lalan Singh - told reporters on Monday: “I read in the newspapers that RCP Singh has said that he was told by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that his name had been approved for ministership. He claimed to have taken oath after informing the CM."
"But this only confirms what we have been accusing RCP Singh of. Our charge is that RCP Singh became a minister as per his own free will. He has dropped the name of Shah. Does Shah belong to our party? Can the BJP decide which JD-U leader will become a minister?” Several Congress and RJD leaders have said since Monday that they were ready to support Nitish Kumar.
(With inputs from ANI)
