JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as Bihar Chief Minister with BJP’s support, NDTV said in a report.
Mint could not independently verify the report.
Rumours have strife that Kumar is likely to join hands with PM Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid his deepening differences with INDIA bloc allies.
Is Nitish Kumar returning to NDA? A guide to what’s happening in Bihar politics
On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held meetings with Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary and other senior leaders from the state, including Sushil Modi and Vijay Kumar Sinha in Delhi as the buzz grew that they are open to welcoming Kumar back into their fold.
Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister has been cut up with the INDIA bloc for not getting a position in the alliance commensurate with his stature and also favours an early assembly poll to go with the Lok Sabha elections.
INDIA ally Nitish Kumar may return to NDA, but conditions apply: Report
In fact, the INDIA bloc has been marred by incoherence and distrust, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann dealing double blows on Wednesday that their parties, the TMC and AAP respectively, will go solo in the Lok Sabha elections expected in April-May.
Signs of disconnect among the INDIA parties in Bihar will suit the BJP in the run-up to the elections as the same alliance had handed it a big defeat in the 2015 assembly polls before Kumar joined hands again with the BJP-led NDA, which then swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Kumar vaulted into the opposition’s alliance in 2022 as the BJP grew increasingly assertive following his party’s sub-par performance in the 2020 assembly polls.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has returned to the national capital amid tension with Kumar, and the INDIA bloc has erupted.
Gandhi has temporarily paused the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and will resume on January 28 from Cooch Behar, West Bengal.
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Published: 26 Jan 2024, 01:34 PM IST
