Bihar crisis updates: Why Nitish Kumar landed the title 'Paltu Ram' in politics

Nitish Kumar resigned as the Bihar Chief Minister on Aug 9 after breaking the JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP.

Pic Credit: File Photo

New Delhi: Nitish Kumar is all set to be the leader of the Mahagathbandhan or grand alliance between JD(U) and RJD after breaking alliance with the BJP. Kumar had resigned as the chief minister of Bihar on Tuesday (Aug 9) and then headed to RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav's residence. It is speculated that Nitish will return as the chief minister and Tejashvi Yadav as deputy chief minister with a new government.

Political analysts are not suprised by Nitish Kumar's decision to back off from the BJP alliance as he has switched parties in the past as well. This is why RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had mocked Nitish Kumar by calling him as 'Paltu Ram'. 

Nitish Kumar had been the chief minister of Bihar since 2005, the longest-serving CM of the state. He has twice switched sides from the NDA camp to the Grand Alliance and then to the NDA. However, somehow, it has managed to have the upper hand in governance.

Earlier, when PM Narendra Modi had become the face of BJP before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish had refused to support the BJP. Then ahead of the 2015 assembly elections, Nitish joined Lalu Yadav's RJD to form a grand alliance, this left the BJP out of power.

However, in 2017, the JD(U) and RJD relationship went downhill after Nitish's stance on the CBI probe on Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashvi Yadav in the IRCTC scam case.

Reports suggest that there were cracks in the BJP-Nitish Kumar alliance since 2020. It purpotedly began when in the 2020 Assembly polls, the BJP was unsure about declaring Nitish Kumar as the CM.

They also had contrasting views on several issues such as proposal for population control, caste census, and the denial of Central university status to Patna university.