‘Nitish Kumar is not Eknath Shinde’: JD(U) fires warning shot over Bihar CM question

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with party advisor KC Tyagi. (File: PTI)

Nitish Kumar is not Eknath Shinde and neither can anyone make him one, senior JD(U) advisor and former Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi said, ruling out a repeat of Maharashtra once the Assembly elections conclude in Bihar.

"If our Opposition is hinting at what happened in Maharashtra, let us make it clear Nitish Kumar is not Eknath Shinde, nor can anyone make him one. Nitish Kumar has been a big leader in his own right. He has been CM for almost 20 years, irrespective of the alliance he has chosen to be part of...Over a dozen NDA leaders...have endorsed Nitish as CM post-polls. And you do not change your captain midway through the battle," the JD(U) veteran told The Indian Express on a question on Nitish not being declared as the NDA's CM face in Bihar.

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that as per established practice, NDA leaders and the newly-elected MLAs would sit and choose their leader once the elections conclude. Shiv Sena supremo Eknath Shinde was appointed Chief Minister of Maharashtra after he broke away from the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction and staked claim as the real Shiv Sena.

Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP was appointed the Chief Minister even though the Mahayuti (NDA) contested the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year under Shinde's leadership.

The Opposition has latched on to Shah's remarks and claimed that the BJP was using Nitish as a mask and would not appoint him as Chief Minister even if the ruling alliance returns to power. The Opposition, including RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan's CM face Tejashwi Yadav, has also sought to discredit Nitish by referring to his alleged ill-health and claiming that he was no longer fit to continue as CM.

Tyagi, however, rubbished such claims and said that Nitish was in better health than when he was during the party's alliance with the RJD. "Tejashwi Prasad Yadav making such allegations does not behove him. He did not say anything about Nitish Kumar’s health when he had been the deputy CM under Nitish from August 2022 to January 2024. In fact, Nitish Kumar is in much better health than Lalu Prasad (Yadav)."

Tyagi further said that Nitish continues to be mentally alert and remains Bihar's most credible politician. "What I have gathered through my personal interactions and conversations with Nitish Kumar is that he is still very mentally alert. He does not need anyone’s support to walk. He has been our star campaigner this election. Nitish is still the most politically attractive and credible politician of Bihar," he said.

Tyagi also claimed that Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has not been very happy with Tejashwi's projection as the CM face of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.

"I can say with a lot of responsibility that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has not been very happy with Tejashwi’s projection. It has given too much prominence to the RJD at the expense of their idea of a rainbow coalition," he said, adding that the JD(U) does not read too much into Congress' newfound love for backward and Dalit politics and sees it as an attempt to revive itself at the cost of its allies.

Tyagi also ruled out any chance of Nitish aligning with the RJD again and said the JD(U) is happy being part of the NDA, which has been more accommodating and respectful.

"We had given the INDIA bloc a chance. It could not value Nitish Kumar. Congress cannot get over its hubris and has been doing its politics through memory. They still suffer from a sense of entitlement," he said.