Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday will hold a key meeting with all MLAs, MLCs and MPs of the Janata Dal (United) amid speculation about his break-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. The meeting is expected to begin at 11 am.

Multiple reports have suggested that the BJP-JD(U) alliance is at a dead end and Kumar will take a final call about the alliance during his meeting on Tuesday. In a statement, the party has said it will accept whatever decision Kumar takes.

"Nitish Kumar is the undisputed leader of the JD(U). He commands respect in the rank and file of the party. Therefore there is no question of any kind of split in the party. Whatever decision is taken by the party under Nitish Kumar's leadership will be accepted by everyone," JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said on Monday.

Reports have also emerged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah dialled Kumar on Monday in a bid to save the alliance. However, Shah's office has denied such reports.

'THERE's NO RIFT...'

Although reports have clearly stated that there's a rift between the JD(U) and the BJP, Kumar's party has regularly refuted such reports, saying everything is fine between the two alliance partners. On Monday, the party once again said everything is fine in the alliance.

"Yes absolutely... Everything is fine in the NDA alliance... Today we are not making any claim but Nitish Kumar has all the qualifications to become the Prime Minister," JD(U)'s Upendra Kushwaha was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

RJD KEEPS CLOSE WATCH

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is keeping a close watch at the brewing political crisis in Bihar. It has said that if Kumar dumps the BJP-led NDA, the RJD is ready to provide support to the JD(U). The party has also said that Kumar's meetings of legislators is a clear indication that the situation was extraordinary.

"Personally, I am not aware of the goings on. But we cannot ignore the fact that both parties, which together had sufficient numbers to muster a majority, have convened such meetings when an assembly session is not round the corner," RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary said on Monday.

"If Nitish chooses to dump NDA, what choice do we have except to embrace him (‘gale lagaenge'). RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the chief minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along," he added.

The JD(U) and RJD had contested the 2015 Bihar assembly elections together, but Kumar had done a volte face and returned to the NDA in 2017.

"In politics, we cannot remain prisoners of the past. We socialists had started off opposing the Congress which was then in power. The Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi was imposed invoking the Constitution," said Tiwary.

"The BJP, which has now become a behemoth, seems out to destroy the Constitution. We have to respond to the challenges of the times," he said.