"Stuck In 2005": Tejashwi Yadav On Nitish Kumar's Frequent U-Turns

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is stuck in the past and not willing to acknowledge the ground reality that his time is over, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav said yesterday of the man whom he served as Deputy and claims to consider an uncle in personal sphere.

This, he said, is the reason for the Chief Minister's frequent change in camp -- and one that a special offer from his party patriarch Lalu Yadav was not enough to contain.

When the second Grand Alliance was formed in July 2022, RJD had offered Mr Kumar the option of outside support, Tejashwi Yadav told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"But he said it would not be right. Lalu-ji had gone to meet him before the election. "We would give outside support, you keep running the government'," Mr Yadav said.

Asked if they had any inkling of Nitish Kumar's intention to ditch the Grand Alliance a second time, Mr Yadav said the Chief Minister had been dragging his feet on several work-related issues, which seemed "deliberate".

But even then, the alliance backed him.

"When we are on anyone's side, we stand strong. We had no problem with anything. We had even gone and told him that he could continue the government, we would provide outside support," he said.

Talking of the differences during the formation of the Grand Alliance 1 and 2, Tejashwi Yadav said even in 2015, they were not eager to join hands with Mr Kumar, "because he had changed sides several times".

"This time, there was pressure from various leaders of the country. Operation Lotus was happening in some states. Nitish-ji said his party was also being split. There was pressure from all sides. So we thought since the real fight is in 2024, anti-BJP forces might as well get together," he added.

On where the alliance unravelled, 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 recognise that his time is over".

"His downfall 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 the second spot in the last state election, falling far behind the BJP. Mr Paswan, who contested solo and was said to have split the pro-NDA votes, was seen as the reason why many JD(U) candidates had failed to win at the hustings. The whole of it was attributed to a BJP conspiracy by many leaders of the Janata Dal United.

Though the NDA formed government again, it did not last long. The alliance collapsed in 2022, with JD(U) allegations that the BJP was trying to split the party.

Mr Kumar's stint with the second Grand alliance was shorter. Last month, he took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record ninth time, forming a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.

The state of affairs was "not right" in the Grand Alliance, he had said. Sources said Mr Kumar has been upset over the lack of clarity in INDIA bloc's poll preparations and being passed over as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate. The delays to seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha polls had been a further aggravation.