Nitish comes a full circle: Back in the NDA fold

A timeline of Nitish Kumar's relation with BJP.

Nitish Kumar is back in the BJP fold and it can be said that the JD-U leader has come a full circle since parting ways with the saffron party in 2014.

With Nitish's departure from the Grand Alliance, the Congress' plan to forge a pan-India front to take on the BJP juggernaut was dealt a major blow. Even before the Congress could intervene and try to prevent the shattering of Mahagathbandhan, Nitish had resigned and BJP wasted no time in extending its support to the former NDA man.

Soon after Nitish resigned, Union Minister and BJP leader from Bihar Ravi Shankar Prasad said that RJD-JD (U) alliance was a mismatch and that the tie-up had no ideological grounds. BJP had in 2015 also warned Nitish against joining hands with graft-tainted Lalu, and now it seems, that they were right.

What eventually became the reason for Nitish to break away from the alliance, indeed turned out to be corruption charges against Lalu's son Tejashwi, who was Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. Nitish has always projected himself as an honest politician who wanted to free Bihar from the clutches of corruption.

For Nitish to live up to his reputation, it had become necessary for him severe ties with Lalu, who was repeatedly giving statements to defend his son. As Nitish said after resigning that situation had become unbearable and walking out was the only way out. The BJP grabbed the opportunity with both hands and rushed to welcome Nitish back to the NDA.

A timeline of Nitish's relationship with BJP:

• In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government between 1998-99, Nitish was, briefly, the Union Minister for Railways and Minister for Surface Transport and later, the Minister for Agriculture.

• In August 1999, he resigned following the Gaisal train disaster, taking the responsibility of the mishap as Minister of Railways.

• From 2001 to May 2004, he was the Union Minister for Railways again in the Vajpayee government.

• In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he won from Nalanda, but NDA was voted out of power at the Centre.

• Nitish remained a part of NDA but focused on Bihar politics.

• In 2010, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) swept back to power along with its ally BJP.

• On 26 November 2010, Nitish Kumar took oath as a Chief Minister of Bihar.

• In the meantime, some differences crept between the BJP and JD (U), but Nitish continued to remain as the CM.

• In 2014, following BJP's thumping victory in Lok Sabha elections, Nitish resigned as CM taking the moral responsibility of his party's poor performance.

• Jitan Ram Manjhi was instilled as Bihar CM in his place.

• On 22 February 2015, Nitish returned as Bihar CM which left Manjhi fuming.

• For the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections, Nitish severed ties with the BJP and forged an alliance with the RJD and the Congress.

• The grand alliance won the Assembly election by a huge margin of 178 seats against 58 seats of the BJP and its allies.

• The RJD emerged as the largest party and Nitish was made the CM and Lalu's son Tejashwi, the Deputy CM.

• The cracks began to appear in JD(U)-RJD ties after the CBI FIR against Tejashwi Yadav in the land-for-hotels scandal.

• Speculations were rife that Nitish may ask for Tejashwi's resignation, but instead, Nitish himself resigned after Lalu made it clear that his son will not step down.

OneIndia News