Nitish Kumar has murdered the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, says Tejashwi Yadav

Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also predicts that JD(U) would be finished by the end of 2024, says the ‘real game’ has just begun

Former Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said Nitish Kumar had “murdered the Mahagathbandhan” (Grand Alliance) after the latter took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time following an alliance with the BJP. Mr. Yadav also made the prediction that Mr. Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), would be finished by the end of 2024.

Mr. Kumar on Sunday became the CM yet again after joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Earlier, he had resigned from the post, toppling the Mahagathbandhan government which included the RJD, Congress and Left parties.  

This is the the second time Mr. Kumar has deserted the RJD in favour of the BJP. In 2015, Mr. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had contested the Assembly election along with RJD and other partners of the Grand Alliance. However, in 2017, when Mr. Yadav’s name cropped up in the land-for-jobs scam, the Bihar CM severed ties and formed the government with the BJP. And again, in 2022, he broke the alliance with the BJP to form the Mahagathbandhan government.

“The RJD has not left him, he has left us. He has murdered the Mahagathbandhan. We followed the alliance Dharma but he did not. Despite that, I am not angry and he will remain a respectable person and guardian for me. I also want to give my best wishes to the BJP which has accepted him,” Mr. Yadav said at his residence.

Instead of attacking Mr. Kumar, the RJD leader spoke about the developmental work carried out during the tenure of the Mahagathbandhan government.

Mr. Yadav credited the Grand Alliance government for conducting the caste-based survey in the State, which was followed by an increase in reservation from 55% to 65% in State government jobs for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Extremely Backward Castes and Other Backward Castes. Mr. Yadav further said for the first time, recruitment of 2.16 lakh teachers was done within 70 days.

“More than 2 lakh jobs were provided. We brought an Information Technology [IT] policy, we brought a Sports policy after which a separate department was formed for sports for the first time. We granted status of State employees to nearly 4 lakh contractual teachers. Our agenda was development and nothing else,” said Mr. Yadav.