Nitish Kumar to skip Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bihar: More chinks in the INDIA Alliance?

Bihar Chief Minister Chief Nitish Kumar will not attend Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra when it reaches Bihar on January 30, according to sources. This comes a day after the JD(U) chief lauded the Prime Minister for conferring the Bharat Ratna to Bihar ex-CM Karpoori Thakur and criticised the Congress for not doing the same during its regime.

Sources say an invitation was extended to Nitish Kumar on Wednesday by Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, but Nitish Kumar did not commit his participation. Mallikarjun Kharge, according to sources, had reached out to Nitish Kumar, sensing more trouble coming the way of INDIA Alliance. Nitish Kumar had previously expressed his displeasure over the delay in seat-sharing talks within the Alliance. Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is expected to cover Purnia in Bihar and Nitish Kumar had reportedly agreed to join the rally, according to the Bihar Congress unit. “In the event of his getting caught elsewhere, he assured (us) a senior leader will be sent to represent his party,” said Chandra Mishra, Bihar Congress leader.

Nitish Kumar’s praise for the PM

CM Nitish Kumar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the central government decided to award Bihar ex-CM Karpoori Thakur with Bharat Ratna. Kumar had even criticised the Congress government for not doing so when they were in power. “We wrote many letters to the Central Government every year, from 2007 to 2023, to both the Congress government of the past and the current regime, requesting them to give the Bharat Ratna to Jananayak Karpoori Thakur… They didn’t do it, but they have finally done it yesterday… I am happy; I congratulate the Prime Minister and the Central Government for this,” said Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar to do a “ghar-wapsi” on cards?

Nitish Kumar has called all his MLAs to Patna. Kumar after snubbing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, sources say, may share the stage with Prime Minister Modi at his February 4 rally in Bihar. In 2015, Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fifth time, after fighting elections in Alliance with RJD and Congress. But in July, he allied with the BJP to stake a claim to the Government. Nitish Kumar contested the 2020 Bihar elections with the BJP but dumped the BJP in 2022 and formed a government with Tejashwi Yadav as the Deputy Chief Minister. Sources say, in 2022, when JD(U) came along with RJD, the understanding was Nitish Kumar in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election would take up a larger responsibility in alliance politics on behalf of the united opposition, while vacating the Bihar Chief Minister’s chair for Tejashwi Yadav. But now, according to sources, Nitish Kumar has backed out of that understanding leading to the current political turmoil in Bihar.

JD(U) leaders are of the opinion that Nitish Kumar may join hands with the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar played a crucial role in forming the INDIA Alliance by convincing the various opposition leaders across the state to come together to defeat the BJP.

What does this mean for the alliance?

Political turmoil in Bihar comes less than 24 hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's no-alliance policy for Bengal, leaving Congress dumbfounded. Soon after the announcement by TMC Supremo, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party gave a similar twist from Punjab. “What Mamata Banerjee said, we are of the same opinion. We are not forming any Alliance with Congress,” Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Wednesday. Now, if Nitish Kumar, who played a crucial role in forming the INDIA Alliance, goes back to the BJP, this could be the third major jolt to both the Congress and INDIA bloc.