Has Nitish Kumar ditched his anti-Congress plank, asks BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday came down heavily on Nitish Kumar, asking if the JD(U) leader has compromised on his principles of politics which always revolved around non-Congressism.

Prasad said that Kumar has joined hands with the corrupt forces and has ditched his non-Congressism credentials which will dent his chances in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

"Nitish Kumar has been a non-Congress leader. His politics is around non-Congressism. Is that finished? He has compromised with corruption and non-Congressism. Nitish Kumar sided with corruption and Congressism. Congratulations. People will give a reply in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls," said the BJP MP.

Nitish Kumar has been a non-Congress leader. His politics is around non-Congressism. Is that finished? Compromise with corruption&non-Congressism! Nitish Kumar sided with corruption & Congressism. Congratulations. People will give a reply in LS & Aseembly polls: BJP MP RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/c7EMtPLnMq

— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2022

Kumar had on Tuesday quit the BJP, stripping the party of power, before resigning and staking claim to form a new government, armed with the support of the 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance).

Kumar, who has submitted a list of 164 MLAs to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan, is likely to swear him and a small cabinet into office at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan today.

The effective strength of the state Assembly is 242 and the magic figure is 122.

RJD's leader Tejashwi Yadav will be the deputy chief minister and the new Cabinet will have representatives from the RJD and Congress besides JD(U), according to sources. The Left parties are likely to give outside support to the new government "retaining their independent identity".

Besides upsetting political calculations, the move is seen as significant as it diminishes the clout of the BJP in a key state in the Hindi-speaking heartland from where most of its legislators come ahead of the 2024 general elections, which pundits expect it to otherwise win.

Kumar on Tuesday told newspersons outside the Raj Bhavan, It was decided at the party meeting that we quit the NDA. I have, therefore, resigned as the NDA's Chief Minister.

After weeks of simmering tension between the JD(U) and BJP over a host of issues including caste census, population control and the Agnipath' defence recruitment scheme and a tiff over the continuation of Kumar's former confidante RCP Singh as a central Cabinet minister, Tuesday saw all MPs and MLAs of the regional party huddled in conference at the chief minister's residence.

The decision they took was to quit the NDA and join hands with the Mahagathbandhan which it had spurned five years back in 2017.

The CM is understood to have told party legislators and MPs that he had been driven against the wall by the BJP which tried to weaken his JD(U), first by propping up Chirag Paswan's rebellion and later through the party's former national president RCP Singh.

With inputs from agencies

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