“Stuck in 2005”: Tejashwi Yadav on Nitish Kumar’s frequent U-turns

Nitish Kumar’s tenure with the second Grand Alliance was short.

Patna:

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is stuck in the past and is unwilling to accept the ground reality that his time is over, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav said yesterday about the man he appointed as his deputy. Worked and claimed to be uncle in personal field.

This, he said, is the reason for the chief minister’s frequent camp changes – and that it was not enough to fend off a special offer from his party patriarch Lalu Yadav.

Tejashwi Yadav told NDTV in an exclusive interview that when the second grand alliance was formed in July 2022, the RJD had given Mr Kumar the option of external support.

“But he said it would not be right. Lalu ji had gone to meet him before the elections. “We will support from outside, you keep running the government”, Mr Yadav said.

Asked if he had any idea of ​​Nitish Kumar’s intention to leave the Grand Alliance for the second time, Mr Yadav said the Chief Minister was dragging his feet on several work-related issues, which seemed “deliberate”.

But still the alliance supported him.

He said, “When we are on someone’s side, we stand strongly. We have no problem with anything. We even went to him and told him that he can continue the government, we will get support from outside. Will give.”

Talking about the differences during the formation of Grand Alliances 1 and 2, Tejashwi Yadav said that even in 2015, he was not keen to join hands with Mr Kumar “as he had switched sides many times”.

“This time, there was pressure from various leaders of the country. Operation Lotus was happening in some states. Nitish ji said that his party was also getting divided. There was pressure from all sides. So we thought that the real fight is in 2024,” he said. Said, “Anti-BJP forces can also unite.”

Asked where the alliance broke down, he said the reason was Mr Kumar’s inability to accept “ground realities”.

The Chief Minister, he declared, was “stuck in 2005 and 2010” and “refused to accept that his time was up”.

“Their decline started in 2011-2012,” Mr Yadav said.

This is why Mr Kumar blamed Lok Janshakti Party’s Chirag Paswan for the poor performance of his Janata Dal United.

Mr Kumar’s party had slipped to second place in the last state elections, far behind the BJP. Mr Paswan, who had contested the election alone and was said to have split the pro-NDA votes, was seen as the reason why many JD(U) candidates had failed to win the election. Many leaders of Janata Dal United had called the entire matter a conspiracy of BJP.

Although NDA formed the government again, it could not last long. The alliance broke down in 2022, with JD(U) alleging that the BJP was trying to split the party.

Mr Kumar’s tenure with the second Grand Alliance was short. Last month, he was sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a record ninth time and formed a new government with the BJP, which he had quit less than 18 months ago.

He said that the state of affairs in the Grand Alliance was “not right”. Sources said Mr Kumar is upset over the lack of clarity in the India Bloc’s election preparations and being put forward as a possible prime ministerial candidate. The situation has become worse due to the delay in seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections.