Will Nitish Kumar join hands with BJP again? His deputy Tejashwi Yadav answers

Fresh rounds of another volte-face by Nitish Kumar were triggered by his former close aide Prashant Kishor, who alleged that the JD(U) leader had not asked his MP Harivansh to resign as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman as he wanted to "keep options open".

New Delhi: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has rubbished speculations about another volte face by Nitish Kumar, days after political strategist Prashant Kishor claimed that the JD(U) leader is in touch with his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yadav, the leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is the largest constituent of the ruling coalition, also said that the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar is "going strong". The fresh rounds of another volte-face by Nitish Kumar were triggered by the Bihar CM's former close aide Prashant Kishor, who alleged that the JD(U) leader had not asked his MP Harivansh to resign as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman as he wanted to "keep options open". Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is an ally of the incumbent 'Mahagathbandhan', also recently ended up lending weight to the speculations by saying that he will support Kumar for any such decision if it was taken in the state's interests.

Manjhi, notably, was sitting beside Tejashwi Yadav while the deputy CM replied to queries from journalists.

"Manjhi is our senior; he is like a guardian ('abhibhavak'). Our coalition is rock solid and he feels the same," remarked Yadav while the HAM leader nodded in approval.

"We drove the BJP out of power and have been running a strong and stable government. There is no room for any misgivings though those with vested interests may keep spreading rumors," Tejashwi added.

Nitish Kumar snapped his party's ties with the BJP in August this year and joined hands with the RJD-Congress-Left alliance in Bihar. 

After coming to power in Bihar in 2005 as the face of the BJP-led NDA, Kumar first broke ties with the party in 2013 and joined hands with the RJD-led opposition in the state in 2014. He then switched sides in 2017.

The BJP, notably, has accused him of changing alliances due to his "greed" for power.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi also asserted that his party RJD enjoyed the full support of alliance partners and looked forward to winning by-elections to two assembly seats -- Mokama and Gopalganj -- scheduled to be held next week.

"It was decided by all coalition partners that we contest both seats. Mokama is our sitting seat while Gopalganj is my native district. We are confident of a Mahagathbandhan victory at both places," Yadav said. 

The by-poll at Mokama has been necessitated by the disqualification of Anant Kumar Singh, who has been convicted in cases relating to arms and explosives recovered from his residences. His wife Neelam Devi has got the party ticket.

In Gopalganj, BJP candidate Kusum Devi's bid to retain the seat of her late husband Subhash Singh has been challenged by the RJD's Mohan Gupta.

(With agency inputs)