From Cabinet Berths to Centre's Policies: Here are Reasons For Nitish Kumar's Rift With BJP

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is all set to break away from the NDA and form a new alliance with the RJD and its allies. Sources said that RJD is demanding the Speaker’s position and Home Ministry in the new cabinet. The chief minister along with opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav is likely to meet Bihar Governor regarding the formation of new government with the support of the opposition parties.

The rift in the NDA alliance came to the fore when Nitish Kumar skipped the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. It was the fourth meeting called by the centre since July that Nitish had preferred to stay away from.

Recently, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and BJP have been vocally against each other recently over several issues sending mixed reactions.

Here are instances when the two alliance partners held opposing views against each other:

Row With the Speaker

Nitish Kumar wanted Bihar assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha removed. The chief minister had also lost his temper against Sinha and accuse him of openly violating the constitution by questioning the government.

Cabinet Berths

JD(U) was offered only one berth in the Narendra Modi government in 2019. Recently, JD(U)’s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that the party will not be a part of Union council of ministers again. “We stick to our stand of 2019 when, after the Lok Sabha polls, we had decided not to join the government at the Centre,” Rajiv Ranjan Singh said.

During the recent cabinet expansion, Nitish Kumar included eight of his party colleagues in Bihar cabinet and left one seat vacant for the BJP.

Opposing BJP’s policies

JD(U), time and again, has went against ally BJP on the issues and affairs concerning the centre. During the recent violent protests over Agnipath, Nitish Kumar remained silent on the issue while the senior leaders of his party including Upendra Kushwaha and Lalan Singh urged the centre to have a dialogue with the protesters. It was also speculated that a section of JD(U) fuelled the protests.

The JD(U) chief is also against BJP’s proposal of holding state and national elections simultaneously. The idea of simultaneous elections to the states and the parliament was pitched by PM Modi, to which the opposition had objected.

JD(U) wants say in matters

CM Nitish Kumar wants a larger say in choosing BJP ministers in Bihar cabinet. The move, however, would undermine Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s grip on the state through the selection of ministers seen as close to him.

Skipping Meets

Last month, Nitish Kumar had skipped the oath-taking ceremony of NDA pick President Droupadi Murmu. Earlier on July 17, Kumar gave a miss to a meeting of chief ministers called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss issues related to the national flag and deputed BJP’s Tarkishor Prasad instead.

He snubbed the BJP again when he skipped dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind, hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the oath-taking ceremony of seven newly elected members of the legislative council.

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