Nitish Kumar formed the government in the year 2005 in an alliance with the BJP and later broke ties with the BJP in 2013.

Bihar political crisis news, Nitish Kumar resignation as Chief Minister, joins hand with BJP-led NDA: The Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar on Sunday resigned from the post of Bihar chief minister after severing ties with the ‘Mahagathbandhan’. He was the one who left no stone unturned in uniting the opposition to take on PM Modi in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. However, he has jumped ship once again back to the BJP-led NDA in less than 18 months. 

Nitish Kumar's resignation as Bihar Chief Minister came as the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections are due which is to be held within the next four months. The people in Bihar have been facing a major political crisis after the development hitting news headlines in no time. 

He said, "Today, I have resigned as the Chief Minister and I have also told the Governor to dissolve the government in the state. This situation came because not everything was alright...I was getting views from everyone. I listened to all of them. Today, the Government has been dissolved..."

In the meanwhile, there are reports that Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as Bihar CM again, today in the evening. Notably, this is the fifth time that he switched sides.

Nitish Kumar's first switch in 2013: 

Nitish Kumar formed the government in the year 2005 in an alliance with the BJP and later broke ties with the BJP in 2013 after PM Modi was named as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Later, he fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections alone and bagged only two seats as compared to 18 in 2009.

2015 assembly elections with RJD: 

In the 2015 assembly elections, he contested the elections in alliance with the RJD wherein the ‘mahagathbandhan’ marked its victory with majority numbers and, simultaneously, Nitish Kumar claimed the CM’s seat. 

However, his dissatisfaction resurfaced again as he found it difficult to accept his party's diminished role within a broader coalition. RJD held the majority mandate. In 2017, soon after allegations of corruption were leveled against Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish broke the alliance and came back to the BJP.

Nitish Kumar's comeback to NDA in 2017: 

In 2017, Nitish made a comeback to the NDA wherein he contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2020 Bihar elections as part of the BJP-led grouping. 

However, he quit the NDA in 2022 to form the government again and to form the next government in Bihar with the help of seven parties, including RJD, Left, and Congress. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Nitish Kumar once again left the ‘mahagathbandhan’ and the 'INDIA' alliance and is set to join the BJP.

What are the current numbers in the Bihar Assembly? 

In the Assembly of 243 MLAs, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP at 78; JD(U) at 45, Congress at 19, the CPI (M-L) at 12, CPI(M) and CPI at 2 each, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)'s at 4. The other two seats are with the AIMIM and an Independent candidate.