Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav's RJD would be joining forces yet again in Bihar after the JD(U)’s strained ties with the BJP finally compelled the party to walk out of the ruling alliance. Nitish Kumar is likely to meet Governor Phagu Chauhan at around 4 pm.
Here are ten points on the Bihar political crisis:
1. The end of the BJP-JD(U) partnership in Bihar comes just weeks after the BJP’s collaboration with Eknath Shinde - amid his revolt against Uddhav Thackeray - led to the collapse of the Maharashtra government. Eighteen new ministers in Maharashtra took oath on Tuesday.
2. Separate legislators’ meetings were held by the JD(U) and the RJD on Tuesday, a day after Nitish Kumar held a meeting with his deputy Tarkishore Prasad.
3. In the JDU MLAs meeting - which was highly crucial for the fate of the ruling alliance - the legislators said they would support Kumar in whatever decision is taken, news agency ANI reported.
4. Lalu Yadav's daughter. Rohini, in the afternoon tweeted a video, saying: “Get ready for coronation. Those with lanterns are returning.” Lantern is the RJD’s party symbol.
{{/usCountry}}4. Lalu Yadav's daughter. Rohini, in the afternoon tweeted a video, saying: “Get ready for coronation. Those with lanterns are returning.” Lantern is the RJD’s party symbol.
{{/usCountry}}5. This comes years after Nitish had quit the Mahagathbandhan alliance to stitch ties with the BJP in 2017.
6. Nitish Kumar’s absence at several government meetings in the recent past had led to speculation that tensions were rife. On Sunday, he had missed a NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he was actively attending other events in the state the same day.
7. Further, senior party leader RCP Singh’s exit from the JD(U) was also one of the highlights in the last few days as the political crisis emerged.
8. On RCP Singh'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."
9. In the 243-member state assembly, the BJP has 77 legislators while the JD(U) has 45 members. The RJD is the single-largest party with 127 MLAs.
10. The JD(U)’s poor performance in the 2020 state elections had given an upper hand to the BJP.
(With inputs from ANI)