Nitish Kumar May Exit Alliance In Bihar, Likely To Go With BJP Again: Sources

The INDIA bloc appears to be unravelling as a third key leader – Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar – is likely to change camp. Sources said it is likely that Mr Kumar, in a last-minute U-turn, will partner the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Over the last two days, two key leaders – Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal– have ruled out any alliance with the Congress in Bengal and Punjab.

For Mr Kumar, 72, this would be the fifth change in camp. Since 2013, he has been swinging between the NDA and the mahagathbandhan, all the while keeping his job in the state intact.  He switched sides last in 2022 – barely two years after he had walked out of the Grand Alliance and joined the NDA.

The signs have all been there over the last weeks, with Mr Kumar's comments on dynastic politics and the subsequent retort from Lalu Yadav's daughter expanding the rift. Yesterday, his lack of response to the Congress invite for Bharat Jodo Yatra, put a question mark on his appearance.  

The Bharat Ratna for former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur appears to have been a turning point scripted in advance.

Sources said Mr Kumar has been upset over the lack of clarity in INDIA bloc's poll preparations and being passed over as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate. The delays to seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha polls had been a further aggravation.