Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar, a socialist leader of Bihar, was elected as the chief minister for the eighth time. Kumar, a product of the political school of Karpoori Thakur and Jayaprakash Narayan was influenced by the socialist ideology of these two great leaders of Bihar. He was influenced by the social justice and making of a Samata Mulak Samaj ideology of Karpoori Thakur and also participated in the Sampoorna Kranti movement in 1977 led by Jayaprakash Narayan.

The NCP supremo also accused the BJP of "finishing off its regional allies" after tying up with them to grab power, referring to the recent developments concerning the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, earlier with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and now the latest with the Janata Dal (U) in Bihar. "The BJP's speciality is to join hands with a regional party during elections, but ensure that the local ally wins fewer seats.

In the meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar passed a proposal to call a special session of the Assembly on August 24 - for him to prove his majority - and the Legislative Council on August 25. Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan has been intimated of the proposal and his approval is awaited. Leaders of the Mahagathbandhan also brought in a no-confidence motion against Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, of the BJP.

Soon after the JD(U)-BJP split, a police official pasted "former" against the name plate of deputy chief minister Tar Kishore Prasad. According to sources, the new government will go hard on BJP leaders and workers if they caught on the wrong sie of the law.

The JD(U) supremo breaking alliance with the BJP in 2013 and now in 2022 is enough to tell what and how much the former still holds relevance as a leader in the politics of Bihar? In 2013, Nitish Kumar had left the BJP following his protests against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but at that time instead of resigning from the Chief Minister's post, he had dismissed the then Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, including all the ministers from the BJP quota, from his government.

The swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar is scheduled at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Rajendra Mandapam inside Raj Bhavan. Besides him, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will also take the oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Nitish Kumar wants to take the oath on Wednesday afternoon as it will be a "Shubh Muhurat" (auspicious day). Wednesday is a "Purnima" of the ongoing Sawan month, which is of great importance in Hindu tradition.

He was accompanied by JD-U national President Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. "We have had discussions with every MLA, MLCs and MP of the party before I resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Bihar. Our party JD-U has also come out from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)," he said. "During the meeting with Governor Phagu Chauhan, we have also claimed to form a new government with the help of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. I have also submitted the list of MLAs to him," he added.

Both RJD and JD(U) thriving on OBC politics could not ignore such a significant issue and the hints were clear when Nitish Kumar started skipping Prime Minister's meetings, the latest being the NITI Aayog. But the other factor is that in the next General elections the BJP was trying to assert itself at the cost of its alliance partner the JD(U). This led to the parting of ways as an insider said that JDU and the RJD could not stop the BJP's rise in the state. It all started in May when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an all-party meeting to discuss the caste-based census.

The promise of five lakh jobs for the youths is also one of the key points of RJD's reunion with JD(U). The RJD had mooted the idea of public welfare and its manifesto had promised 10 lakh jobs. "The first decision will be the announcement of jobs," said an insider, who claimed that there are no differences on the power sharing arrangements. The Congress is likely to get a ministerial berth after a formula was evolved during the discussions while the Left parties may extend their support from the outside.

As far as the numbers are concerned, the JD(U) has 45 MLAs and it also has the support of an independent candidate Sumit Singh. LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh also merged with the JD(U). Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has already decided to stay with Nitish Kumar. The HAM has 4 MLAs. And, the final count of MLAs with Nitish Kumar is 51. On the Mahagathbandhan front, the RJD had 80 MLAs but as MLA Anant Singh lost his legislation after the MLA-MLC court of Patna convicted him for 10 years jail term in AK 47, hand grenade and bullet proof jacket case, RJD was reduced to 79.