BJP quips 'Nitish Kumar has become irrelevant' after oppn leader calls on Tejashwi Yadav

As a Shiv Sena delegation led by Aaditya Thackeray specially visited Patna to meet Tejashwi Yadav, BJP quipped that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had become irrelevant now. In a video statement on Wednesday, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal also chided the JDU leader for meeting the Sena leaders despite the party's attitude towards Bihari migrants. Moreover, he raised questions over Mahagathbandhan fielding a JDU candidate in the Kurhani Assembly by-election despite the fact that this seat was represented by RJD's Anil Kumar Shahani until his conviction in a corruption case.

Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal remarked, "Nitish Kumar has become completely irrelevant now. Aaditya Thackeray came here to meet only Tejashwi Ji. Keeping in mind his prestige, he did meet Nitish Ji. Nitish Ji would talk against the anti-Bihari mindset of Shiv Sena for 24 hours. Today, he is meeting and praising them. Nitish Ji sitting with those regarding whom he had objections shows that he can stoop to any level to fulfill his dream." 

"Nitish Ji knows how to use power very well. This is the reason why the party which has 43 MLAs is ruling over Bihar keeping a party having 76 MLAs and a party having 78 MLAs on the margins. This seat belonged to RJD but was given to JDU due to the conspiracy of a syndicate. When Nitish Ji requires something, he uses other parties. But when his allies require something, he falls unwell," he added.

Nitish Kumar's national ambition

5 years after returning to the NDA fold, Nitish Kumar took another U-turn on August 9 and joined hands with RJD, Congress, and the Left once again. He submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan and staked a claim to form the Mahagatbandhan government. Thus, only BJP and the lone AIMIM MLA constitute the opposition space in Bihar now. On August 10, Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were sworn in as the CM and Deputy CM respectively in the Raj Bhavan. This is Kumar's 8th term as the Chief Minister. 

Perceived as the first step in his bid to unite the opposition, he went to Delhi in September. In his first engagement, the JDU leader met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. As per sources, they discussed the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and mulled the possibility of bringing like-minded parties together. This was followed by his meetings with JDS leader Kumaraswamy, his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, and Mulayam Singh Yadav and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.