‘Leader sitting with us’: Nitish goes off manuscript; ‘discloses’ what led to JD(U)-BJP split|India News – The Times of India

BRAND-NEW DELHI: Bihar primary preacher Nitish Kumar on Monday pinned the blame for his departure from the partnership with Bharatiya Janata Party in 2022 on “some leader” from his celebration.While talking at a rally in Bihar’s Purnea, Nitish Kumar claimed that some of the leaders that developed break in between JD( U) and BJP exist on the phase. He additionally pledged that he will certainly never ever damage partnership with BJP in the future.“Yes, there was some trouble in between… some people among them created problems, and this is never acceptable… sometimes even some of our own party people did such things. Even now one leader is sitting with us… now there is no such issue, no question arises anymore,” Nitish claimed.“There will be no kind of alliance with anyone now. You know what… from the beginning when the government was formed, it was BJP and JD(U) in the NDA, and it is from that only that all the work was done. In between, there were some ups and downs, let that be… now no question arises, we will not make any alliance,” he added.Although Nitish didn’t take any name, all eyes were on Union minister Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh present at the stage. Lallan was the national president of the JD(U), and stepped down just a month before Nitish abruptly exited the INDIA bloc.Speculation had been rife that Lallan was made to resign due to perceptions that he had grown too close to the RJD, headed by Nitish’s long-time rival, Lalu Prasad Yadav.The JD(U) and BJP’s alliance dates back to the 1990s. It first broke in 2013 over disagreements regarding the elevation of PM Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.Nitish later allied with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, but that alliance lasted only until 2017, when he returned to the NDA fold.The alliance continued until 2022, when Kumar once again joined hands with the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, vowing to defeat the BJP and accusing it of attempting to split his party.However, in advance of the Lok Sabha surveys in 2024, Nitish returned to the NDA, deserting the INDIA bloc that he had actually aided create by joining celebrations opposed to the BJP.