NEW DELHI: Nitish Kumar‘s Janata Dal(United) on Wednesday acted swiftly to control damage after its Manipur unit chief wrote a letter to state governor reiterating party’s earlier decision of not supporting the BJP-led Biren Singh government.
“The seating arrangement of the lone MLA of Janata Dal (United) in Manipur, Md Abdul Nasir was made in the opposition bench in the last session of assembly by the speaker. It is, hereby, further reiterated that Janata Dal(United), Manipur Unit does not support the BJP-led state government in Manipur, and our lone MLA, Md Abdul Nasir shall be treated as an opposition MLA in the House,” the JD(U) Manipur unit chief said in his letter to governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
While the state unit’s move had absolutely no impact on the Biren Singh government, which enjoys the support of 45 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, it did lead to speculations about BJP’s ties with JD(U) whose support is crucial for the survival of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
The Congress was quick to take a swipe at the BJP asking whether this heralds a political climate change. “Today, JD(U) withdrew support to the BJP Government in Manipur. Yesterday, JD(U) opposed the new UGC Rules which have been announced by the Modi Government to control top appointments to all universities. Is this heralding political climate change,” asked AICC general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh in a post on X.
The JD(U) national leadership made a sharp, strong and immediate rebuttal. It called the reports “misleading and baseless” and sacked the Manipur unit chief immediately.
“This is misleading and baseless. The party has taken cognisance of this and the president of the Manipur unit of the party has been relieved of his position. We have supported NDA and our support to the NDA government in Manipur will continue even in future. Manipur unit did not have any communication with the central leadership, they were not taken into confidence. He (Manipur JDU chief) had written the letter on his own. Considering this an act of indiscipline, action has been taken against him and relieved of his position,” JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said.
“We are with the NDA and the state unit will continue to serve the people of Manipur towards development of the state,” he said. The senior JD(U) leader also reaffirmed his party’s ties with the BJP. “Our party has worked diligently to strengthen the NDA and will continue to do so,” he added.
The BJP and the JD(U) have been allies in Bihar for almost two decades, but their recent ties have been tenuous thanks to the many flip-flops made by Nitish Kumar. The JD(U) has been out of the NDA twice – once in 2013 and then again in 2022. The party’s second return to the NDA fold was just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar has now asserted that he will stay with NDA permanently calling his two exits “mistakes”. The two parties are gearing up for the year-end assembly elections in the state under the changed dynamics – under which the BJP needs the support of Nitish Kumar to sustain its government at the Centre.
Ironically, Nitish Kumar whose support ensured the formation of NDA 3.0 government at the Centre, is also one of the key architects of the opposition’s INDIA bloc. Perhaps that explains why JD(U) leaders are very loud and prompt when it comes to any reports that give even the remotest hint of another U-turn.
