Indian opposition leader Kumar switches alliance to BJP
Indian opposition politician Nitish Kumar has formed an alliance with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to be appointed Bihar Chief Minister for the ninth time, in a further blow to the opposition before national elections this year.
Mr Kumar, 72, resigned on Sunday to dissolve his coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress. By Sunday evening, he had been reappointed as Chief Minister and formed the regional government with the support of the ruling party.
He made the decision despite recently vowing “he’d rather die” than ally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP. Mr Kumar has been Chief Minister of the important electoral state with a population of 131 million since 2000 and is regarded as one of the most important politicians in the country.
He leads the regional Janata Dal (United) party and has governed the state through a variety of coalitions, switching between support for opposition parties and the BJP.
“The situation with the alliance was not working,” Mr Kumar said. “The new grand alliance that we created is not in a good condition. The situation is not looking good.”
Although it is not the first time the veteran Mr Kumar has allied with the country’s ruling party – he was part of a BJP-led coalition in 2022 – his latest move has been regarded as a blow for the opposition in an election year.
India is set to hold national elections in April and May. The opposition is behind in the polls and faces an uphill challenge to prevent Mr Modi from winning another five-year term.
Bihar is one of the most important states, with 40 of the Indian parliament’s 543 seats. Mr Kumar had been one of the leading figures in the alliance of 26 opposition political parties formed under the banner “INDIA” last year. His decision presents a further challenge to INDIA, which is led by the main opposition party, the INC.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said Mr Kumar was giving “tough competition to a chameleon”, a reference to an ability to change colours. Opposition MP Sanjay Raut, from the Shiv Sena (UBT) party, said Mr Kumar had developed “amnesia”, which was “very dangerous for the country, politics and democracy”.
It is unclear who INDIA will choose to lead its campaign in Bihar now that Mr Kumar’s JD(U) party will campaign alongside the BJP. The BJP currently holds 17 of Bihar’s 40 seats, while the JD(U) has 16 with the rest split between smaller parties.
“We kept saying that seat-sharing needs to happen immediately … INDIA lacked plans to fight against the BJP,” said JD(U) spokesman KC Tyagi.
Political analyst Prashant Kishor said the move also reflected badly on Mr Modi and the BJP, because the party previously said it would not welcome Mr Kumar.
“I have been saying this since starting that Nitish Kumar can swap any time,” he said. “This has become a part of his politics. But today’s developments have shown that all parties and leaders in Bihar are paltumaars [turncoats].”