Patna (Bihar) [India], January 28 (ANI): After snapping ties with “Mahagathbandhan” and taking oath for the ninth time as Bihar Chief Minister, CM Nitish Kumar on Sunday asserted that his alliance with NDA will remain forever adding that now there is no question of going anywhere else. “I was with them (NDA) earlier too. We went on different paths, but now we are together and will remain so. Today, eight people have taken oath as ministers, the rest will take oath soon. Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha have been appointed as Deputy Chief Ministers,” Nitish Kumar told reporters on Sunday.

When asked about RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s statement that “JDU will be finished in 2024”, Bihar CM said that our party will work for the development and progress of the state. “We work for the development and progress of Bihar. We will keep doing the same, nothing else. Tejashwi was not doing anything. Now I came back to where I was (NDA) and now there is no question of going anywhere else,” he added.

After days of speculation, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Sunday, his second volte face in less than 18 months. Snapping ties with the RJD and Congress, Nitish will now be forming a government with BJP’s support, the oath-taking of which is going to take place shortly.
Nitish Kumar cited the state of affairs being “not right” under the Mahagathbandhan as his reason for quitting. He said that he has been receiving suggestions from everywhere, including his party workers, and he listened to all of them to come to this decision.

Despite turbulence in state politics, Nitish, whether with the Mahagathbandhan or the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has managed to retain the CM’s chair and ensured that his party has not split over his repeated flip-flops. In the Bihar Assembly of 243, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP’s 78; the JD(U)’s 45′ the Congress‘s 19, the CPI (M-L)’s 12, two each of the CPI(M) and CPI, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)’s four seats, and the AIMIM’s one, plus one Independent legislator.

Nitish Kumar, after parting ways with the BJP in 2022, took on the initiative of uniting all opposition forces to jointly take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national election. In 2000, Nitish became CM for the first time after campaigning against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s ‘Jungle Raaj’. Till now, he has been Bihar’s CM on eight occasions.

In 2013, Nitish broke ranks with the NDA after a 17-year alliance following the announcement of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. He expressed his displeasure to the BJP over Modi’s selection as the PM face, and after the BJP decided to not change its decision, Kumar left the alliance. In 2017, Nitish forged a grand alliance with the RJD and Congress and returned as chief minister in 2015. He walked out of the grand alliance in 2017, accusing the RJD of corruption and choking governance in the state.

In 2022, Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the BJP once again, alleging the BJP was conspiring against him and trying to influence JD-U MLAs to rebel against him. (ANI)

“Will win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar”: Newly elected Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary

Patna (Bihar) [India], January 28 (ANI): Bihar‘s newly elected Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary on Sunday asserted that NDA (National Democratic Alliance) would secure victory in all 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “We will win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. In 2020 we won the elections and defeated Lalu Yadav’s family and will do the same in future also,” Samrat Choudhary told ANI on Sunday.

Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and MLC Choudhary took oath as a Cabinet Minister at Raj Bhavan in Patna. Choudhary was on Sunday chosen as the leader of the BJP’s legislature party, paving the way for him to become the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.

Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the ninth time at Raj Bhavan on Sunday after snapping ties with “Mahagathbandhan”. After days of speculation, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar his second volte face in less than 18 months. Snapping ties with the RJD and Congress, Nitish formed a government with BJP’s support.

Samrat who always wears a turban on his head, is known as a bold and aggressive State BJP leader.
It is worth mentioning that earlier in 2023 when asked about the turban, he had said that the turban would go off the moment Nitish Kumar is removed from the CM’s post.

54-year-old Choudhary took over as the state BJP chief in March 2023. He joined the BJP six years ago and has also been the BJP leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council. He has also served as Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Health in 2014 in Jitan Ram Manjhi Ministry and Minister of Metrology and Horticulture in 1999 in Rabri Devi Ministry. (ANI)