Tight-lipped on Rahul saga: Is Nitish out to spring another surprise?

Days after visiting BJP MLC Sanjay Mayukh's house, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has refused to comment on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha.

"I have been running the government for 17 years. There are many cases. But never commented on the court's decision and will not comment further. I only say that the probe should be done in the best possible way," he said.

Just three days ago, Kumar had visited Mayukh at his residence along with two of his ministers - Vijay Kumar Chaudhury (Finance) and Sanjay Jha (Water Resources). His visit had set the tongues wagging as the MLC is said to be close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Kumar usually do not go to the residence of MLAs and MLCs. If he visits, it has some signals to send out, according to political observers. Moreover, Mayukh is not known to be close to Kumar and this is the first time that he paid a visit to the BJP MLC's house. Hence, there is a talks in the political circles that he might be ready for another U-turn.

It may be recalled that the Bihar CM had visited an iftar party hosted by Rabri Devi before ending ties with the BJP last year. Similarly, he had attended an event organised by senior former Bihar CM Sushil Kumar Modi before calling off the alliance with RJD in 2017.

According to reports, Kumar has in his possession documentary evidence of involvement of Lalu Yadav's family in the land-for-job scam. "That is why his response to Lalu Yadav and his family being summoned by Central probe agencies for questioning was muted and nuanced. He did not condemn the summons or interrogations as the RJD would have liked him to," former State BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal pointed out.

It was JDU which had first broke the ties with the 17-year-old alliance with BJP in 2013 after Narendra Modi was projected as NDA's PM candidate. He then joined hands with RJD and Congress to form 'Mahaghathbandhan' (grand alliance).

But that too ended in 2017 when he joined hands with BJP again to form the government. Five years later, he again took a U-turn and renewed ties with the RJD. Is he set for yet another U-turn? Only time will tell. Keep watching this column.