Nitish Kumar vs BJP: Ten points on Bihar's political turbulence

The Mahagathbandhan is all set to return to power in Bihar with Nitish Kumar as the chief minister. Kumar will be taking oath as the chief minister on August 10 at 2pm.

Nitish and Tejashwi have finally staked claim to form the next government. Earlier today, he had submitted his resignation to the Governor and met RJD's Tejashwi Yadav.

What lead to this and can the BJP retain itself as a ruling partner in BJP?


1. Since Sunday, news of imminent split between the two parties — the JD(U) and the BJP — has been growing louder when Nitish Kumar skipped the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

2. This was the fourth such meet that Nitish Kumar skipped, prompting one and all to question the relations between the two old allies.

3. The friction between the allies had risen to the extent that in March Bihar CM Nitish Kumar lost his cool during the budget session of the state assembly, accusing speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha of not running the House as per the Constitution.

4. The BJP and the JD(U) had been at loggerheads over several issues, ranging from caste census to granting special status to Bihar to allowing loudspeakers at places of worship.

5. Some JD(U) leaders said that the matter of higher representation of the party in the Union cabinet is another reason for the heightened friction.

6. The tension between the two parties hit breakpoint over Bihar CM's concerns that Union Minister Amit Shah is working relentlessly to split the Janata Dal (United).

7. Last month, Nitish Kumar did not attend a meeting of all chief ministers called by Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah. After that, he was invited to the farewell banquet hosted by PM Modi for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind on July 22, but he again stayed away.

8. Former national president of the JD(U), RCP Singh, resigned from the party on Saturday after party leadership sought an explanation on corruption allegations against him. Kumar and RCP Singh became further estranged after the JD(U) chief did not nominate him to the Rajya Sabha for the third time, and he had to resign from the Union cabinet.

9. JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh hinted that the BJP was trying to engineer a split in his party, similar to what happened in the Lok Janshakti Party, which cleaved into two factions led by Chirag Paswan and his uncle Union minister Pashupati Paras.

10. According to some JD(U) leaders, Nitish Kumar was shocked on July 31 when BJP president JP Nadda in Patna claimed that only the BJP would survive and all other parties- including regional parties -- would perish in the country. As JD-U is a regional party, this message was taken like a warning.

The math
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. Heavy security has been deployed outside the residence of Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar in Patna.