Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav Fall In Step After Patch-Up

Nitish Kumar walking down a road, his hands folded, shortly after meeting the Governor and resigning his post. He is flanked by Tejaswi Yadav -- the deputy over whom he ended the alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress in July 2017 -- and his brother Tej Pratap Yadav. Five years on, the wheel has come full circle and the image will be an abiding one of the day Mr Kumar ended his alliance with the BJP and tilted the other way again.

Back in 2017, Mr Kumar had walked out of the Mahagathbandhan, citing corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav.

The 71-year-old who had cultivated the image of Mr Clean, had said "It wouldn't be right if I didn't take a stand, I don't do politics of this kind".

"I felt suffocated, my conscience pricked me... there was no other way," he had said. Though he did not name the Yadavs, few failed to get his drift.

Now Mr Kumar is back in the fold again, at a time when there are more corruption charges against the RJD. Since December 2017, party patriarch Lalu Yadav has been convicted in four corruption cases.

The rapprochement, said sources in the RJD, has been in progress for several months. Both sides have worked hard to overcome their differences and are more comfortable with each other's working style.

Now, Tejashwi Yadav will be back as Mr Kumar's deputy and his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav will be in the cabinet, sources said. The two parties have formed the broad contours of the government as well.

This evening, Mr Kumar met the Bihar Governor and staked claim to form government. He was accompanied by Tejashwi Yadav and leaders of the other parties supporting him.