Bihar Political Crisis: All Eyes On Tuesday JD(U) Meet As Oppn Opens Arms To Nitish Kumar. Key Points

Bihar Political Crisis: With speculation rife of JD(U) breaking away from the NDA in Bihar, the Opposition parties, including RJD, have indicated they were ready to open their arms to Nitish Kumar.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar interacts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally

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Amid signs of fissure between the ruling JD(U) and BJP in the Bihar government, all eyes will be on Tuesday when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar holds a crucial meeting of party MPs, MLAs and MLCs in Patna. With speculation rife of JD(U) breaking away from the NDA in Bihar, the Opposition parties, including RJD, which is the single largest party in Assembly, have indicated they were ready to open their arms to Nitish Kumar.

The fresh tension between the two parties comes on the backdrop of former Union minister RCP Singh resigning from JD(U) after being served a notice seeking explanation on allegations of corruption. The graft allegations proved to be the last straw as RCP Singh, perceived to be close to the BJP, was refused an extension of his Rajya Sabha seat a few months ago by the JD(U).

Bihar Political Crisis: Top Developments

• Both Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD will hold separate meetings on Tuesday at 11 am. The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), a constituent of the NDA, is also holding a meeting of its MLAs.
• JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said whatever decision was taken by Nitish Kumar would be accepted by everyone in the organisation. "Nitish Kumar is the undisputed leader of the JD(U). He commands respect in the rank and file of the party. Therefore there is no question of any kind of split in the party. Whatever decision is taken by the party under Nitish Kumar's leadership will be accepted by everyone," KC Tyagi said.
• RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary said the party would take Nitish Kumar along if he wanted to join the fight against BJP. "If Nitish chooses to dump NDA, what choice do we have except to embrace him ('gale lagaenge'). RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the chief minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along," PTI quoted Tiwary as saying.
• There were reports in a section of the media that Nitish Kumar spoke to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over phone. "We are yet to get official info on Nitish Kumar speaking with Sonia Gandhi but we don't contradict it," ANI quoted Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha as saying.
• CPIML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told PTI "we will extend a helping hand if the JD(U) breaks up with BJP" and a new government is set up.
• The signs of fissure between JD(U) and BJP have been visible after Nitish Kumar skipped a number of official meetings with top BJP leaders recently. He skipped the farewell of former President Ram Nath Kovind and the swearing in of Droupadi Murmu last month. The Bihar CM also skipped the Niti Aayog meeting on Sunday.
• The JD(U) has also been nursing a grievance about the BJP ignoring its claim of three berths in the Union Council of Ministers, PTI reported.
• However, senior BJP leaders have maintained a studied silence on the issue. "It is difficult to comprehend what Kumar is up to. We will wait and watch," a BJP leader said.
• It must be remebered that in 2017, Nitish Kumar had done a volte face and returned to the NDA after leaving a coalition government with RJD and Congress.
• If the JD(U) severs ties with BJP and takes the help of the 'Mahagathbandhan', it can easily form a government in Bihar. The RJD has 80 legislators in the 243-member Assembly, JD(U) has 45 MLAs, Congress 19 and the Lefts parties have 15 MLAs. The majority mark is 122.