‘Game yet to begin in Bihar,’ says Tejashwi Yadav amid Nitish-BJP alliance buzz

Amid speculations that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may pull out of the ruling grand alliance and join hands with the BJP once again, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday hinted at many unexpected developments in the state.

Leaders and legislators of Tejashwi’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) met at the residence of party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to discuss the political developments. The meeting was also attended by Lalu Prasad’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi.

According to reports, Tejashwi told partymen that though Nitish is a respectable person, there were many factors which were not in the control of the chief minister.

"The chief minister used to sit with me on the stage and ask ‘what was there in Bihar before 2005?’. I never reacted. Now, more people are with us. Whatever remained undone in two decades, we managed to get it done within a short time—be it jobs, caste census or increasing reservation. 'Bihar mein abhi khel hona baki hain' (The game is yet to begin in Bihar),”  Tejashwi said, reported ANI.

RJD, with 79 MLAs, is the largest alliance partner in the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) followed by Nitish’s JD(U) which has 45 seats. The ruling alliance also includes Congress and three Left parties. Congress has 19 MLAs, CPI(ML) has 12, and both CPI and CPI(M) have two each.

The BJP has 78 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly which means that if the JD(U) switches sides, the grand alliance will fall eight members short of majority.

The reports of Nitish planning to pull out of the opposition group has left the 28-party INDIA bloc on tenterhooks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Interestingly, it was Nitish who initiated the process of forming a grand opposition bloc to take on the BJP in the general elections.