Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday alleged that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to move to the Rajya Sabha was the result of political pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party, intensifying the political confrontation between the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the opposition.
Reacting minutes after Nitish announced his decision, the leader of opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, said the development was not unexpected and had been predicted earlier by the RJD.
“We already knew about this. On January 28, 2024, when we said that JD(U) would be finished, the BJP’s promise of winning 400 seats did not materialise, so it was delayed by a year. Otherwise they would have finished them much earlier,” Tejashwi said.
He compared the situation in Bihar with political developments in Maharashtra, where the BJP backed Eknath Shinde as chief minister after a split in the Shiv Sena.
“What happened in Maharashtra? The BJP put forward Eknath Shinde as its chief minister. They have implemented the same policy here in a more refined manner,” Tejashwi said.
Tejashwi also questioned the circumstances under which the National Democratic Alliance secured victory in the state elections, alleging that the outcome was influenced by “money power and machinery”.
“Nitish Kumar has said that he wants to go to the Rajya Sabha. But we have been saying from the beginning that after the elections the BJP would not allow him to remain chief minister. Today that has come true,” he said.
The RJD leader argued that the change in leadership would go against public sentiment, pointing out that the NDA had campaigned on the slogan of “Nitish again from 2025 to 2030”.
“Everyone knows that this was the slogan in the Bihar elections. Even then we had said that the BJP had hijacked Nitish Kumar and would not allow him to remain in power for long. We said he would not remain chief minister for more than six months,” Yadav added.
He accused the BJP of undermining regional allies and said the party did not want a leader in Bihar who speaks for marginalised communities.
“The BJP has destroyed whoever it has been with. It is an anti-OBC, anti-Dalit and anti-tribal party. They do not want a leader in Bihar who speaks for the OBCs or Dalits; they want a rubber stamp chief minister,” Yadav said.
Despite his criticism, Tejashwi acknowledged Nitish’s long political career and contributions to the state. “We have worked with Nitish Kumar in the past, though mostly we have been in opposition. We have sympathy for him and we thank him for the service he has rendered to Bihar,” he said.
Nitish Kumar earlier confirmed his intention to contest the Rajya Sabha election, a move that has triggered intense political debate in Bihar over the future leadership of the state government.
