Nitish Kumar may quit today, Team Lalu Yadav’s ‘floor test’ plan to buy time: Sources

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to resign from his post on Saturday and several Congress MLAs will go with him, sources told India Today TV, amid the political turmoil in the state.

Speculation is rife about Nitish Kumar breaking away from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government, a coalition that comprises Lalu Yadav-led RJD, and rejoining the BJP-led NDA.

The RJD is trying to cobble up numbers and create a perception that the party is not going down without a fight. They are also trying to chalk out a strategy if they can’t stop Nitish Kumar from becoming the Chief Minister again.

The party is also planning to raise the issue in the Bihar assembly when a trust motion takes place during the budget session on February 5.

Earlier, sources told India Today TV that Nitish Kumar may take oath as the Bihar Chief Minister in the JD(U)-BJP alliance on Sunday, with BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi returning as his deputy.

Commenting on the Bihar political scenario, BJP veteran Sushil Modi said on Friday that the “doors which are closed can open”, and called politics “a game of possibilities”. He, however, declined to speak in detail on the issue.

Ties between JD(U) and the RJD that have been strained for a while now, reached its peak after Lalu Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya on January 25 took to X to slam Nitish Kumar for his ‘dynasty politics’ remark. She has since deleted her cryptic tweets.

Nitish Kumar’s possible return to the BJP-led NDA will be a jolt to the Opposition-headed INDIA alliance as he is a key member. On Friday, in an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav said that had Nitish Kumar stayed with the INDIA bloc, the JD(U) chief could have become the Prime Minister.

Akhilesh Yadav also accused Congress of not “missing enthusiasm” and not “coming forward” enough to keep the INDIA bloc members happy.

Unsuccessful seat-sharing talks have caused a rift in the INDIA bloc, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister announcing recently that her party will go solo in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. She cited the failure of seat sharing discussion as the reason.

Even the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has ruled out an alliance with the Congress in Punjab with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserting that the party would win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Nitish Kumar, according to sources, is also upset with the INDIA bloc due to failed seat-sharing talks.