Former Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said Nitish Kumar had “murdered the Mahagathbandhan” (Grand Alliance) after the latter took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time following an alliance with the BJP. Mr. Yadav also made the prediction that Mr. Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), would be finished by the end of 2024.
Mr. Kumar on Sunday became the CM yet again after joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Earlier, he had resigned from the post, toppling the Mahagathbandhan government which included the RJD, Congress and Left parties.
This is the the second time Mr. Kumar has deserted the RJD in favour of the BJP. In 2015, Mr. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had contested the Assembly election along with RJD and other partners of the Grand Alliance. However, in 2017, when Mr. Yadav’s name cropped up in the land-for-jobs scam, the Bihar CM severed ties and formed the government with the BJP. And again, in 2022, he broke the alliance with the BJP to form the Mahagathbandhan government.
“The RJD has not left him, he has left us. He has murdered the Mahagathbandhan. We followed the alliance Dharma but he did not. Despite that, I am not angry and he will remain a respectable person and guardian for me. I also want to give my best wishes to the BJP which has accepted him,” Mr. Yadav said at his residence.
Instead of attacking Mr. Kumar, the RJD leader spoke about the developmental work carried out during the tenure of the Mahagathbandhan government.
Mr. Yadav credited the Grand Alliance government for conducting the caste-based survey in the State, which was followed by an increase in reservation from 55% to 65% in State government jobs for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Extremely Backward Castes and Other Backward Castes. Mr. Yadav further said for the first time, recruitment of 2.16 lakh teachers was done within 70 days.
“More than 2 lakh jobs were provided. We brought an Information Technology [IT] policy, we brought a Sports policy after which a separate department was formed for sports for the first time. We granted status of State employees to nearly 4 lakh contractual teachers. Our agenda was development and nothing else,” said Mr. Yadav.
He asserted that in 17 months, the Grand Alliance regime did better work than 17 years of NDA government in Bihar. He did not hesitate to remind the people that during the 2020 Assembly election, it was the promise of RJD to provide 10 lakh jobs.
“It was our promise to give jobs and we were doing it. Can’t we take the credit for this? Nitish ji was in pain because we were doing great work. I worked honestly and tried to live up to the expectation of the people,” Mr. Yadav said.
Asked about the next move, Mr. Yadav said, “The real game has just started and much more will happen in days to come. I don’t want to disclose our strategy. I want to make it clear that by the end of 2024, the JD(U) would be finished.”
RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav termed Mr. Kumar a “chameleon” while Mr. Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya called him “garbage” in a post on social media platform X. “Garbage goes back into the dustbin. Congratulations to the dustbin for getting the stinkiest garbage,” she had posted.
After Mr. Kumar switched sides, hundreds of RJD workers reached the residence of Rabri Devi where Mr. Prasad and Mr. Yadav reside, and shouted slogans against Mr. Kumar. RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwari slammed Mr. Kumar saying he has “no self-respect left in him”.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media in Begusarai district, poll strategist Prashant Kishor said, “Today’s incident showed that all political parties and leaders of Bihar are palturam [turncoat]. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders are equally big palturam, who were saying that the doors of BJP is closed for Nitish Kumar.”
