Nitish Kumar | Photo credit: PTI
Patna: The recent change from the JD (U) MLA to the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh and the subsequent disputes within the ruling coalition in Bihar has apparently given new hope to the RJD, the main opposition party in the state.
RJD leader Shyam Rajak claimed on Wednesday that 17 MLAs from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party were willing to switch to the opposition party, clearly seeking to fish in troubled waters.
“17 JD (U) MLA are in contact with us. Everyone feels stifled in the current dispensation where the CM seems to have capitulated to a dominant BJP. They are ready to change sides as soon as possible, “said Rajak, who was the deputy leader of JD (U) in the previous Assembly.
‘Defection put on hold’
However, Rajak, a former JD (U) national secretary general who moved to RJD shortly before the recent Assembly elections, said the defection of the MLAs has been postponed as the RJD hoped more people would like to follow their lead. soon, which “would increase the number enough to cause a division, defensible under the anti-drift law”, in the party that has 43 MLA.
“As we do not want to violate the law against desertion, we have told them that we will welcome them only when they come in a group of 28 ALMs. Their strength will increase to 28 very soon,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bihar’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, dismissed the claims, calling them “unfounded”.
On Tuesday, RJD leader Uday Narayan Choudhary asked Kumar to sever ties with the NDA and join the opposition alliance ‘Mahagathbandhan’. The RJD leader had also said that the BJP does not like smaller parties and wants to destroy their entity and asked Kumar to appoint Tejashwi Yadav the CM of Bihar.
Discord in the Bihar alliance after the Arunachal shake?
The defection of six of the seven JD (U) MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh to the BJP has given the RJD the opportunity to create a rift within the ruling alliance in Bihar.
Earlier, KC Tyagi, JD (U) secretary general and national spokesperson, said that the political events in Arunachal will not overshadow Bihar, but admitted that JD (U) had felt “aahat” (hurt).
“The party has expressed its deep anguish, disgust and protest at the development of Arunachal Pradesh. It is not a good sign for the policy of the alliance. The partners should follow the ‘policy of the alliance’ as practiced during the Atal term. Bihari Vajpayee or was followed in Bihar for the past 15 years, “Tyagi said, quoted by PTI.
