Nitish Turns Down Opposition’s Invite

Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday put an end to all speculation of him crossing over to join the INDIA bloc. He said at a political rally in Muzaffarpur that "we mistakenly wandered off twice, but now have returned to the company of an old friend. I will stay with NDA.”

Nitish's decision comes after RJD founder Lalu Yadav expressed his willingness to welcome Nitish back into the Opposition camp.

Lalu's comments caused a rift within the party as Tejaswi Yadav, son of Lalu Yadav and party chairman, qualified his father's statement saying, "we did not extend any offer to Nitishji." He said his father was merely replying to a journalist's query in his characteristic style without implying any greater significance to the statement.

Nitish Kumar, throughout his political career, has frequently changed allies. He formed an alliance with the RJD and the Congress in 2015 achieving a landslide victory, but he severed his relations with the RJD and rejoined the NDA in 2017. Then he took a U-turn in August 2022 and re-established his collaboration with RJD. Before the LS polls in 2024, he returned to the NDA for the third time.