However unusual it may sound, political circles in Bihar are abuzz with speculation that JDU boss and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is exploring yet another homecoming to the BJP-led NDA fold.
The buzz is timed to the CBI’s chargesheet, filed on Monday, against Nitish’s Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav in a land-for-jobs scam.
The timing
This comes days after he hosted the first opposition unity meeting, and followed it up with a flurry of meetings of his party leaders for four days ending on Monday.
This also follows reports that RJD chief Lalu Prasad is pressuring Nitish to vacate the CM chair for his son Tejashwi, who reportedly had a tiff with him over a bureaucratic reshuffle.
This also comes amid apparent weakening of the opposition unity with the NCP splitting in Maharashtra, the AAP expressing its anguish against the Congress over the latter’s refusal to support it over Delhi Services Ordinance and a number of regional parties preferring to stay away from the opposition unity move.
The meetings
Ostensibly to get a feel of the grassroots, Nitish met his MPs, MLAs and MLCs one-on-one asking them to relate what they were hearing on the ground on governance, politics, BJP, PM Modi and opposition unity buzz.
Nitish had held similar meetings each time before he switched sides — from NDA and to NDA.
Another meeting that set tongues wagging was between Nitish and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Harivansh the day CBI charge-sheeted Tejashwi.
The meeting, happening after a long gap and despite Harivansh ignoring his party boss’s direction to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building, reportedly lasted for over 90 minutes.
Track record
Nitish had first quit NDA in 2013 over Modi’s elevation as the BJP’s PM candidate. He switched sides again from Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan to the NDA in 2019 before dumping the BJP again to rejoin the RJD in 2022.
However, his former deputy CM, Sushil Modi, earlier this week said “BJP will neither accept nor carry him in the future”
The buzz is timed to the CBI’s chargesheet, filed on Monday, against Nitish’s Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav in a land-for-jobs scam.
The timing
This comes days after he hosted the first opposition unity meeting, and followed it up with a flurry of meetings of his party leaders for four days ending on Monday.
This also follows reports that RJD chief Lalu Prasad is pressuring Nitish to vacate the CM chair for his son Tejashwi, who reportedly had a tiff with him over a bureaucratic reshuffle.
This also comes amid apparent weakening of the opposition unity with the NCP splitting in Maharashtra, the AAP expressing its anguish against the Congress over the latter’s refusal to support it over Delhi Services Ordinance and a number of regional parties preferring to stay away from the opposition unity move.
The meetings
Ostensibly to get a feel of the grassroots, Nitish met his MPs, MLAs and MLCs one-on-one asking them to relate what they were hearing on the ground on governance, politics, BJP, PM Modi and opposition unity buzz.
Nitish had held similar meetings each time before he switched sides — from NDA and to NDA.
Another meeting that set tongues wagging was between Nitish and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Harivansh the day CBI charge-sheeted Tejashwi.
The meeting, happening after a long gap and despite Harivansh ignoring his party boss’s direction to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building, reportedly lasted for over 90 minutes.
Track record
Nitish had first quit NDA in 2013 over Modi’s elevation as the BJP’s PM candidate. He switched sides again from Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan to the NDA in 2019 before dumping the BJP again to rejoin the RJD in 2022.
However, his former deputy CM, Sushil Modi, earlier this week said “BJP will neither accept nor carry him in the future”
