Nitish Kumar does it again; 4 times Nitish jumped alliances for power

Bihar Chief Minister has broken his alliance with the BJP on Tuesday, August 9. His announcement came after he convened a meeting of all Janata Dal (United) party MLAs and MPs following resignation of a party leader.

Kumar, on August 7, skipped the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.

Kumar will likely tie up with RJD, Congress and the Left Front to retain his hold in the state. If agreement is made, it will be the third time JDU will form coalition government with Lalu Prasad Yadav's party.

Kumar, in his political career, spanning over four decades, has changed his political allegiances four times.

Nitish Kumar's exit from Janata Dal

Kumar came into the limelight of Bihar politics when he helped his then senior Lalu Prasad Yadav become the CM in 1990. He addressed Lalu Yadav as his elder brother in those days. However, things did not remain hunky dory always.

Nitish Kumar, who won his first assembly election from Nalanda district’s Harnaut seat in 1985, rebelled against Yadav's control of the party in 1994. He allied with veteran socialist leader George Fernandes and formed Samata Party.

In 2003, Fernandes-led Samata Party and Sharad Yadav-led JD (U) merged.

Kumar walks out of NDA

The JD (U) and BJP were allies since 1998 but Kumar walked out of the alliance after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was appointed as the Chairman of BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign committee.

He took several jibes at Modi without naming him in his 30-minute-long press conference.

The Mahagathbandhan with RJD, Congress

During the 2015 Bihar assembly polls brought a paradigm shift in politics as Kumar formed a grand alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress.

JD(U) and RJD contested 101 seats each and the latter won 80 seats while Kumar's party managed to win 71 seats. Despite that he was sworn in as the chief minister for fifth term.

Nitish Kumar breaks alliance, again

Following surfacing of allegations against Tejashwi Yadav in 2017, Kumar broke the Mahagathbandhan. Yadav who was deputy chief minister, was facing corruption charges and wasn't stepping down.

Kumar had told the press that breaking off the alliance was against his nature and the way he works but it was pointless to run the government.

Soon after the incident, he took oath as CM with BJP and its allies.

Published on: Tuesday, August 09, 2022, 03:15 PM IST