TRUE to form, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has dumped his Mahagathbandhan allies and returned to the NDA’s fold. The Janata Dal (United) chief has formed the government with the BJP, the very party he had snapped ties with just a year and a half ago. His latest U-turn has jolted not only the Mahagathbandhan — which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and the Left Front — but also INDIA, the Opposition bloc that was formed last year to take on the BJP in the 2024 General Election. Nitish had projected himself as the face of the alliance, but suggestions about naming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as INDIA’s prime ministerial candidate left him fuming.

It’s nothing new for Nitish to switch allies, but he has been doing it with increasing regularity over the past decade. Having once said ‘Mitti mein mil jaayenge magar BJP ke saath nahin jaaenge,’ Nitish has opportunistically patched up with the saffron party yet again in a bid to survive and thrive. His decision shows that he is anticipating the BJP’s victory and INDIA’s debacle in the General Election. This is also a desperate attempt by him to revitalise his party, which had ended up way behind the RJD and the BJP in the 2020 Assembly election. Though the BJP will be calling the shots in the new government in Bihar, it won’t be easy for the party to justify taking Nitish back on board after having ruled out his return to the NDA.

Even as Nitish seems to have abandoned his prime ministerial ambitions, INDIA finds itself sinking deeper into the mire. Discord over seat-sharing in West Bengal and Punjab has exposed the alliance’s frailties. Nitish’s crossover indicates that more Opposition leaders might jump ship as the Lok Sabha elections draw nearer.

(This article was first published by The Tribune, India).