“Is there ‘Modi ki guarantee’ that Nitish Kumar won’t flip again?” Tejashwi Yadav recalls 17 months with JD(U)

RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday lashed out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, over his recent flip to the NDA folds. At times in satire and at times by mocking, Yadav during the Assembly floor test questioned if people of Bihar will have any trust left in Kumar after being sworn in as the Chief Minister for a record ninth time on January 28 after deserting the RJD-Congress ‘Mahagatbandhan’, third since 2020, only due to his political flip flops. “It is believed that Modi ji’s guarantees are full proof. Will PM Modi guarantee that Nitish Kumar won’t flip again?” questioned Yadav while insinuating that there could have been some pressure on Nitish Kumar leading to a political compulsion to change sides.

“I have respect for Nitish Kumar… he always said he didn’t want any post or position, rather wanted to unite the opposition against BJP. We supported him…Nitish Ji after resigning came out of the Governor house and said that he wasn’t feeling happy. What did he expect, we will dance to cheer him up” said Yadav while asserting that in Bihar he will defeat BJP, fulfil the dream of Kumar.

Nitish Kumar won the Bihar Assembly floor test with 130 votes in house of 243, securing the confidence of the legislative assembly, albeit by a narrow margin. Opposition ‘mahagatbandhan’ leaders had walked out in protest, while BJP hailed the new government of their alliance with Nitish Kumar as the one that will work in the true interest of the people. Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister along with BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha as his Deputy Chief Ministers.

“Since I became the chief minister in 2005, there has been development for the state. But look at the period when Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi were the chief ministers of Bihar for 15 years…there has been rifts between Hindu and Muslim. I gave Tejashwi Yadav opportunity and his party but for the past few months I was noticing they were not working properly but they were taking credits and it was then that I decided to leave them and come back to my old ally BJP”, Nitish Kumar countered. Tejashwi Yadav held Kumar responsible for the political flux that has left Bihar in a state of “utter confusion.” “As long as the Bihar does not have a stable government, no reforms planned for the growth and development of the state can fall into place,” asserted Yadav.

He further raked up the past when Amit Shah had publicly claimed that the doors of BJP are shut for Nitish Kumar after JD(U) dumped BJP in 2022, two years after winning Bihar election in 2020 in alliance with BJP. “Amit Shah had said that the doors of the Bharatiya Janata Party are forever shut for Nitishji. However, we can all see that he has been accepted and welcomed back into the alliance,” mocked Tejashwi Yadav. Addressing a rally in Bihar last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that BJP’s doors are forever closed for Nitish Kumar. “We kept our promise and made Nitish Kumar the CM. He has now landed in the lap of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress. BJP is now disgusted with his flip-flops and has shut doors for Nitish Kumar forever,” said Union Home Minister Amit Shah in February last year.

The former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar launched a scathing attack at the BJP over the conferment of a Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur, calling it a ‘poll deal.’ “I am happy that Karpoori Thakur got the Bharat Ratna. The Bharatiya Janata Party has made a deal out of the Bharat Ratna award. Deal with us and we will give you Bharat Ratna," said Tejashwi Yadav adding that he would take the Bharatiya Janata Party head on in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.