Bihar Politics: How Nitish Has Been Alternating Between Love And Hate For BJP, RJD | A Detailed Timeline

Bihar political crisis: For the past 23 years, Nitish Kumar has demonstrated his political prowess by serving as the Chief Minister of Bihar eight times, forming alliances with both the BJP and the RJD.

Bihar Politics: Amid the political crisis in Bihar, CM Nitish Kumar is likely to resign after chairing a meeting of JD(U) MLAs at his official residence on Sunday, party sources said, news agency PTI reported. Following the meeting, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar is likely to visit the Raj Bhavan and submit his resignation letter to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. He will then stake claim to form a new government with the BJP’s support.

For the past 23 years, Nitish Kumar has demonstrated his political prowess by serving as the Chief Minister of Bihar eight times, forming alliances with both the BJP and the RJD. His complex relationship with these two parties is resurfacing once again, as there are media reports that he may part ways with the RJD and join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) to take office for the ninth time in Bihar.

2000: Nitish Kumar Becomes Bihar’s CM(First Term)

In 2000, Nitish Kumar assumed the role of Bihar’s Chief Minister for the first time, behest of the Vajpayee Government in the centre. However, he resigned within a week after his government was reduced to a minority. During this period, Bihar and Jharkhand constituted a single state, and the NDA boasted 151 MLAs, while the RJD-led alliance held 159 MLAs in the 324-member Bihar assembly.

2005-2010: Nitish Kumar(Second Term)

In 2005, Nitish Kumar was again elected with the support of the BJP. He completed his five-year term. Throughout this period, he implemented numerous people-oriented policies, earning the moniker ‘Sushashan Babu’ in Bihar. The fruits of his governance were evident in the 2010 assembly election, where his party JD-U contested 141 seats, emerging victorious in 115. This victory marked Nitish Kumar’s third term as the Chief Minister of Bihar.

2010: Nitish Kumar And His Aim For Prime Ministerial Candidate

However, Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the BJP deteriorated when the saffron party announced Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. Besides, he also thought that Narendra Modi was carrying the baggage of the Godhra riots of 2002. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Kumar’s party fared miserably and he resigned as the chief minister on moral grounds, news agency IANS reported. He offered the post of chief minister to JItan Ram Manjhi in 2014 but forced him to resign within 9 months and became the chief minister for the fourth time.

2015 Assembly Election: Nitish Joins Hands With RJP, Congress

It was in the 2015 assembly election that Nitish Kumar joined hands with the RJD and the Indian National Congress party and defeated the saffron party. The Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) won 80 seats while the JD-U bagged only 69 seats. Still, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav offered the CM’s post to Nitish Kumar and he took oath as Bihar’s chief minister for the 5th time.

2017: Kumar Broke Alliance With RJP

As per news agency IANS report, Kumar broke the alliance with the RJD in 2017 Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav was chargesheeted in the IRCTC land-for-job case and Kumar formed the government with the help of the BJP, the saffron party. At that time the BJP had only 59 seats in the Bihar assembly. Nitish Kumar took oath as the CM for the sixth time.

2020 Assembly Election

Nitish Kumar contested the 2020 assembly election under the umbrella of the NDA with the BJP, HAM-S and VIP as the alliance partners. His party under-performed, getting just 43 seats. As Kumar is a shrewd and hard bargainer, he managed to become the chief minister for the 7th time.

2022: Alliance with the BJP on Hold

In August 2022, He broke his alliance with the BJP  and formed the government with the RJD. He took the oath for the 8th time as the chief minister of Bihar. At that time, Nitish Kumar blamed the BJP for the parting of ways as BJP national president JP Nadda had given a statement to uproot the regional parties.

Present Days

Nitish Kumar is on the brink of parting ways with the RJD, gearing up to form the government with the BJP in Bihar. Anticipated to be sworn in for an unprecedented ninth term as Chief Minister on Sunday, this development comes against the backdrop of Bihar witnessing only five assembly elections in the last 23 years. Despite the limited electoral cycles, Nitish Kumar’s political journey has seen him take the oath eight times, and one is on the cards on Sunday.

(With Inputs From Agencies)