"Can Do Anything To Save Party": Tejashwi Yadav's Jibe At Nitish Kumar

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and Bihar's former Deputy Chief Minster Tejashwi Yadav took a dig at his erstwhile boss Nitish Kumar today, hinting that the Chief Minister could be ready for another switch after the Lok Sabha election results are declared on June 4.

"After June 4, our uncle can do anything to save his party and the politics of the backward classes. He can take any big decision," Mr Yadav told reporters today.

Over the last decade, Nitish Kumar has switched sides five times. After the last switch to the NDA, he had said it was the last time.

While he has been derided much for his continuous back and forth, his ability to pick the winning side has surprised many. And that was what Mr Yadav was driving at.

The battle between the NDA and the Opposition bloc INDIA has been intense over three states -- Maharashtra, Bengal and Bihar. While Maharashtra has been the hardest to read, Bihar is not seen as a done deal either despite the results of 2019.

In the last general election that year, the NDA -- complete with Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan's undivided Lok Janashaki party -- had managed to scoop up all but one of the state's 40 seats.

But this time, while the Central and state welfare schemes are popular with women, Tejashwi Yadav's pitch for more jobs has gained traction among the young people of the state. Mr Yadav, during his campaigning, has repeatedly showcased the 4 lakh-plus jobs the Grand Alliance government had provided in 17 months before Mr Kumar pulled the plug on it in January this year.

For the other side, the big question remains how much pull the nine-time Chief Minister still has among the electorate. In the last assembly election in 2020, the score of his Janata Dal United had dropped from 72 to 45.

Many now question whether the Chief Minister, once popular as "Mr Good Governance", would enjoy the same support as in 2019 after his two switches in a span of five years.