Nitish Kumar switches sides again; another state witnesses a midterm change of govt

Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar's resignation came as deja vu as JD-U in the past also had dumped Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join a family-led party - Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Nitish Kumar has taken multiple U-turns in the past. In 2013, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) broke the alliance with BJP and joined hands with RJD and Congress.

The Mahagathbandhan of JD(U)-RJD-Congress won the 2017 election. Kumar returned as the Chief Minister and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav became the deputy chief minister.


However, the Mahagathbandhan collapsed in the year 2017 within two years and Nitish Kumar got reunited with the BJP. Earlier on Tuesday, Kumar resigned, breaking his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the year 2022, he joined hands with the BJP and became the chief minister. However, on Tuesday, Kumar again broke the alliance with BJP-lead NDA.

Bihar is all set to get a new government with Nitish Kumar dumping his pre-poll ally, the BJP, to once again join hands with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal.

While Nitish may have earned the dubious distinction of being called the "Paltu Ram", Bihar is not the only state to see political parties toppling elected governments to form a new one mid-term.

Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government was toppled after Eknath Shinde, a senior Sena leader, led a rebellion against the Thackerays. The Shiv Sena, which had contested the assembly elections with the BJP in 2019, dumped the saffron party after the pre-poll allies could not agree on the chief minister’s post. Uddhav later joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

However, two and a half years down the line, Eknath Shinde walked away with 40 out of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs and became the chief minister with the support of the BJP. While the BJP denied any role in toppling the Uddhav Thackeray government, Shinde went on record to reveal that he held midnight meetings with senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to plan the rebellion. The rebel Sena MLAs got refuge in three BJP-ruled states - Gujarat, Assam and Goa - till they could effect a change of guard in Maharashtra.

Karnataka
In Karnataka, the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government led by HD Kumaraswamy lost power mid-term in 2019 after 17 MLAs of the ruling combine resigned. They later joined hands with the BJP to help Yediyurappa return as the chief minister of the state.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party but was kept out of power as the Congress and the JDS decided to join hands.

Madhya Pradesh
The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh lost power mid-term after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia rebelled against the party along with several MLAs. This paved the way for the return of the BJP government under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Scindia and his supporters later joined the BJP. The former Congress leader is now a minister in the Union Cabinet.

(With inputs from ANI)