Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar and leader of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), stated on Saturday that it is important to consider how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is severing MLAs from other parties and whether this is legal. His remarks came shortly after at least five JDU lawmakers switched allegiances to the saffron camp in Manipur.
All six JDU MPs in Manipur, according to Kumar, met with him after he withdrew from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) a few weeks prior and assured the leadership of their dedication to the party.
Kumar added that the opposition would be united for the general election in 2024.
“When we parted ways from the NDA, all our six Manipur MLAs came and met us and assured us they were with JDU. We need to think about what’s going on. They’re breaking away the MLAs from the parties, is it constitutional?… The Opposition will unify for the 2024 elections,” the Bihar CM told reporters.
The Manipur development occurred while the JD(U), which had reestablished connections with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in order to reinstate the Mahagathbandhan government in power, was attempting to position Kumar for a larger role. The JD (U)’s executive meeting is held in Patna, the location of the JD(U).
The BJP was criticised earlier in the day by the national president of the JDU, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, for using “dhan bal” (money power) to lure lawmakers away from other parties. He added that the saffron party’s deceptions would not be enough to prevent the Kumar-led party from achieving national status by 2023.
“Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD(U) from becoming a national party by 2023,” Singh said.
“Our MLAs in Manipur have defeated BJP candidates at the hustings. Ditto in Arunachal Pradesh, where our MLAs were poached while we were still in the NDA,” he added.