After tendering his resignation as the Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar on Sunday spoke to reporters and gave a few reasons why he decided to dump the Mahagathbandhan government in the state as well as the opposition bloc INDIA and go back to the NDA fold.
"I have submitted my resignation as Bihar CM today. I have also asked the Governor to dissolve the government. Things were not working out well," he said, coming out of the Raj Bhavan after submitting his resignation letter to the Governor.
"The new Grand Alliance that we created [in August 2022] in the state is not in a good condition. The situation is not looking good," the 72-year-old Janata Dal (United) chief told reporters in Patna.
He alleged the JD(U) had been doing a lot of work in Bihar, but the "others" -- alluding to Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- have not done much and were "trying to take credit for all the good work".
Nitish Kumar also criticised the opposition bloc INDIA, an alliance that the former Bihar CM had a major role in creating.
"I was hurt. I left the INDIA alliance. I have been working hard to make a successful, meaningful (INDIA) alliance, but no one else (in the alliance) has been doing anything ... I was making an all-out effort to make the INDIA bloc running, but I received no response. People are not happy," he told reporters.
Again it is commander justified is come swagat karte.
"You all know how I came to this alliance and also how I worked to bring together so many parties. But of late, things were not working well. It was not going down well with those in my party as well ... Nobody was doing anything after the alliance was formed. INDIA bloc failed my expectations," Nitish added.
Some political analysts said that Nitish was also upset at being sidelined by the INDIA partners, particularly the Congress.
The last nail in the coffin was presumably the moment when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal proposed that Mallikarjun Kharge should be made the chairman of INDIA bloc and would be the PM face in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Shortly after it was announced that Kharge would be the INDIA chief, details came out that Nitish had refused to accept any other position in the bloc, sparking speculation of a growing rift.
JD(U) leader KC Tyagi lent credence to the reasoning after he accused the Congress of wanting to steal and appropriate the mantle of leadership of the Opposition alliance. "Congress wanted to steal the leadership of INDIA bloc. In the meeting that took place on December 19, a conspiracy was hatched to appropriate the leadership of INDIA bloc, as Mallikarjun Kharge's name was proposed (as PM)," Tyagi told reporters on Sunday.
"Earlier, in the meeting in Mumbai, it was unanimously decided that the bloc carry its principal agenda forward without naming a PM face. However, as part of a well-thought-out plan, (West Bengal CM and TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee proposed Kharge's name as PM (with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal seconding it). Many of the Opposition parties of today carved out their individual identities after uncoupling themselves from the Congress. While we pressed for seat-sharing talks at the earliest, the Congress kept dragging their feet and delaying it. INDIA failed to come up with a definite plan or roadmap to fight the BJP," Tyagi said.
'A chameleon ... trash': Congress, others attack Nitish
Hours after resigning as CM of the Mahagathbandhan government, Nitish Kumar is set to take oath again, this time with the help of the BJP. This is the fourth time in the the last 11 years that Nitish Kumar has switched political sides in the state.
The JD(U) chief parted ways with the BJP for the first time in 2013 to join hands with RJD. He returned to BJP-led NDA in 2017. In 2022, he again left NDA to join the Mahagathbandhan. After nearly 18 months, he is back in NDA fold.
The Congress took a swipe at Nitish and said "he is giving tough competition to chameleons" while party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said he was expecting the move.
"Earlier he and us were fighting together. When I spoke to Lalu and Tejashwi, they also said that Nitish is going. If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed, but he wants to go. This information was already given to us by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Today that has come true. There are many people in the country like 'Aaya Ram-Gaya Ram'," Kharge said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X "Nitish Kumar, who frequently changes political partners, is giving tough competition to the chameleons in changing colours."
Meanwhile, reacting to Nitish's saffron shift, Lalu Yadav's daughter Rohini Acharya posted on X, "The trash has been consigned to the dustbin."
(With inputs from agencies)