Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar on Tuesday dumped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a second time in less than eight years, accusing the saffron party of weakening the JD(U). Nitish, a seven-time Chief Minister, is all set to rejoin hands with estranged allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties.
Nitish's association with Lalu dates back to Jayprakash Narayan's movement when the two met each other in their student days. At that time, the two were comrades-in-arms, with Nitish often calling Lalu his "bade bhai".
The Janata Dal swept the 1990 assembly polls in Bihar and Nitish supported Lalu to become the Chief Minister of the state. However, four years after that, Nitish revolted against Lalu, left the JD, and formed the Samta Party with George Fernandes.
Three years after that, Lalu left the JD and formed the RJD. In 2000, he also defeated Nitish's Samta Party in Bihar polls. By this time, Nitish had shifted towards the BJP. In the 2005 Bihar polls, the BJP-JD(U) combine voted the RJD out of power.
In 2010, the BJP-JD(U) alliance won again and Nitish became the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term. Nitish's alliance with the BJP was unshakable for 13 years, but he left the NDA in 2013 after the saffron party decided to make then Gujarat Chief Minister it's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
In 2015, Nitish joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan to win the Bihar elections. This "unholy" alliance, however, continued only for two years as Nitish quit it in 2017 after listening to "the call of his soul". Nitish cited the corruption charges against his then deputy and Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav behind his decision to leave the Grand Alliance.
Before quitting the Grand Alliance, Nitish had also praised Modi multiple times, which had irked the RJD. During this period, Lalu's residence was also raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in corruption charges that also strained ties between the JD(U) and RJD.
After leaving the Mahagathbandhan, Nitish joined hands with the BJP again. However, his switch helped earn the name of "Paltu Ram" from Lalu.
"Everybody knows that in your (Nitish’s) political career you took the help of so many people and deserted many," Lalu had said then. "Say truthfully, isn’t it a fact that you (Kumar) had come to my house with folded hands to join forces for the 2015 Bihar poll and pleaded that now we have grown old so give me (Kumar) one term... But after he saw Tejashwi doing good work, he tried to make him a sacrificial goat to have several terms as CM."
But the alliance with the BJP didn't turn out to be sweet as the two allies openly kept fighting on multiple issues, including the proposal for a caste-based census. Despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah's assurance, Nitish also remained non-committal on an alliance with the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The tipping point was RCP Singh's resignation from the JD(U), who said Nitish's party is a "sinking ship". Singh, an IAS-turned-politician, was a trusted loyalist of Nitish, but the JD(U) accused him of working for the BJP in a bid to weaken the party.
On Tuesday, following Nitish's high-level meeting with JD(U) MPs, MLAs, and MLCs, the seven-time Chief Minister resigned from his position and met Lalu's son Tejashwi as the JD(U)-RJD rejoined hands again.