Congress & Left give free hand to Tejashwi Yadav & RJD to decide on Bihar political flux

Amid the political tumult in Bihar, with Nitish Kumar set to sever ties with the NDA and ally once again with the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), the political rank and file of the RJD has authorised Tejashwi Yadav to take decisions, sources said, in another affirmation of Tejashwi's rise as Lalu Yadav's political heir. Moreover the other allies of the Mahagatbandhan, Congress and Left, have also given Tejashwi Yadav a free hand, added sources. The RJD is by far the biggest opposition party in the Bihar assembly, in fact, it is the biggest single party in the state.

Sources within the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD revealed that Lalu Prasad Yadav is closely watching the situation, however, the political moves are being directed by son Tejashwi Yadav. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Tejashwi Yadav are likely to accompany each other and visit the Governor's house at 4 pm today. Nitish Kumar is likely to tender his resignation to the Governor paving the way for the formation of the Mahagatbandhan government in alliance with RJD and Congress.

'BJP tried to break the JDU at the behest of RCP Singh': Nitish Kumar

At the JDU party meeting on August 9, CM Nitish Kumar lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of humiliating the JDU and attempting to break the party using RCP Singh against whom JDU had leveled corruption allegations following which he had to quit the party. Singh, who is supposed to be close to the BJP, was a Union minister in the NDA government but wasn't re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha by JDU this time around. 

"BJP humiliated us and tried to break the Janata Dal-United at the behest of RCP Singh. We are parting ways with the BJP and I am going to resign as Chief Minister," he told the party members, sources told Republic.

In the meeting, many JDU MLAs and MLCs alerted the CM on the attempts of the alliance to weaken the JDU since 2020 and the party will have to face consequences if steps are not taken now. 

'BJP wants Nitish Kumar to continue as CM' 

Union minister Kaushal Kishore stated that BJP has no role in creating a controversy among the JDU and that the party would like Nitish Kumar to continue as the Chief Minister. "Don't want to make a comment on the Bihar Political Situation but BJP never initiated anything that may stir up a controversy or create a situation of uncertainty among them. JD(U) will make a decision but BJP definitely wants Nitish Kumar to continue as CM."

As far as the seat equation in the 243-member Bihar assembly is concerned, RJD remains the single largest party with 79 seats, BJP - 77, JDU - 45, Congress - 19, CPI (M-L) - 12. The majority mark to form a government is 122.