Giving a strong indication that Janata Dal(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may be returning to the National Democratic Alliance, senior BJP MP and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on January 26 said that “doors never get closed permanently in politics” and “they open as per requirement”.
The statement comes in the wake of meetings held in New Delhi between Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary, Mr. Sushil Modi, Union Minister Nityanand Rai, and BJP general secretary in-charge of Bihar Vinod Tawde.
The BJP, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the Congress have called meetings of their respective legislature parties on Saturday.
BJP sources said that while the party was not in a hurry to close a deal with Mr. Kumar, it has called a meeting of its State Executive and party leaders in Patna on Saturday. “All sorts of ideas have been floated, that Nitish Kumar will have a Deputy Chief Minister from the BJP, that there will be no simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, and Assembly may see renegotiations on seats,” a BJP leader privy to the developments in Delhi said.
The buzz in the political circles of Bihar is that Mr. Kumar may form a new government with the BJP on January 28, and Mr. Sushil Modi would be the Deputy Chief Minister again.
BJP leader and former Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and who has been known for his bitter opposition to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, was seen chatting with the latter at the high tea organised at the Raj Bhavan on the occasion of Republic Day.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav was conspicuous by his absence at the event, adding more fuel to the speculation.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai has been meeting NDA leaders in Patna such as Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party leader Upendra Kushwaha. Both Mr. Manjhi and Mr. Kushwaha had come to the NDA fold opposing Mr. Nitish Kumar.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad has also been meeting party leaders to “explore options”.
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should clear the prevailing confusion by evening today [Friday],” RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said.
RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwari said, “If there is even a little bit of self-respect left in Nitish, he will not go to BJP, whose leaders are continuously saying that all doors are closed for him. I don’t think he will sell his conscience.”
If Mr. Nitish Kumar does a switchover, the strength of the Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar will be down to 114 members (RJD 79, Congress 19, Left parties 16), while the BJP-led NDA will rise to 127 members. The JD(U) has 45 MLAs. The support of 122 MLAs in the 243-member Assembly is required to form the government in the State.
