JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM during the swearing-in ceremony of the new state government at Raj Bhavan in Patna.
Credit: PTI Photo
As the JDU convener Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar recently for the ninth term along with two Deputy CMs from the BJP, the main reason for Kumar to quit the Mahagathbandhan has surfaced in the media.
Kumar reportedly walked out of a virtual meeting involving prominent members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or I.N.D.I.A bloc, earlier this month, according to a report by NDTV. Kumar has been in the headlines after he had jumped ship from the 17-year long alliance with the BJP in 2013 because Narendra Modi was chosen by the saffron party as the prime ministerial face.
Despite claims that he would never return to the party he has left, the current Bihar Chief Minister frequently drifts from his own words. It is just a reason that Kumar needs to evade the discussions, and this time was no different as he was supposedly offended by Rahul Gandhi's decision to consult West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about choosing a coordinator for the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
Kumar is said to have walked out of a I.N.D.I.A bloc meet before it ended, earlier this month, despite the bloc choosing him as their convener. However, it seemed that the time taken by Rahul Gandhi and the members of the Opposition in choosing a convener bothered Kumar who, time and again, has shifted fronts for the sake of position and superiority that he was offered in the party he joined.
Annoyed by the delay in the decision, when Kumar was chosen the convener, he is said to have left the video meeting saying that the position can be given to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Opposition further proposed the name of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of I.N.D.I.A bloc's chairman— and this decision was hailed by Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, once again shattering Kumar's hopes on being the chosen one for the task.
The aforementioned differences paved ways for Kumar this time again, to switch parties— ultimately weakening the I.N.D.I.A bloc. As he quit the alliance, Kumar reasoned that he was unhappy with the functioning of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Regardless, the two BJP chief ministers in Bihar have now been tasked to maintain an eagle eye on Nitish Kumar— given his switches and political drifts.