Former Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha has cautioned the BJP that Nitish Kumar will deceive it again and it should be ready for “Dhokha number 2” from him. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party is former ally of the BJP. In seat sharing, Upendra Kushwaha did not get expected seats in the Lok Sabha elections and finally quitted the NDA. Later on, he joined the Mahagathbandhan led by RJD and the Congress.
Kushwaha said, “I want to tell BJP people that Nitish Kumar has been known for disrespecting the people’s mandate. Betraying people’s mandate and alliance partners are his old habits. BJP should be ready to witness ‘Dhokha number 2’Aisa koi saga nahi jisko Nitish ne thaga nahi (There is nobody who has not been cheated by Nitish). Hence, the BJP should remain “cautious.” Kushwaha said that Nitish Kumar’s remark that the JD-U would not join the Modi cabinet reminded him of ‘sour grapes’.
It is notable that Nitish Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in June 2013 after Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, was made the BJP’s campaign committee chairman for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He later joined hands with the RJD and the Congress to form Grand Alliance in Bihar which won the last state assembly elections. In July 2017 Nitish Kumar deserted the RJD and resigned. Thus, the government of Grand Alliance collapsed. Within hours, he joined hands with the BJP and became chief minister again.
Relations of the BJP and JD-U are tense after Nitish Kumar rejected the offer of one cabinet berth in the Modi 2.0 government. In the reaction to this, he expanded his cabinet in Bihar and offered the BJP just one cabinet berth, while 8 ministers of JD-U were sworn in.
