Chirag Paswan calls Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's Pegasus probe stand a signal he'll ditch BJP

After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar registered an opinion that is unlikely to help his party's ally- BJP, Lok Janshakti Party's former supremo Chirag Paswan on Monday highlighted it as a 'signal' that he was on the track of entering into an alliance with the opposition.

Things have not been smooth in the NDA government in Bihar since the results of 2020 assembly results, in which BJP alone won 74 seats while JDU won 43 seats, taking the total tally of the NDA to 125. 

Reminiscing the day the 2020 election results were announced in Bihar, Chirag Paswan said, "Just a day after that I had conducted a press conference and in that pointed out that mid-term elections will soon take place in Bihar as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will join hands with the opposition and try to be their face." Having said that, he added that with each passing day, he is working towards it by criticizing the government on various issues like the Pegasus row, population control, and Article 370 among others. 

Pointing out that Nitish Kumar has been eyeing the Prime Minister post for years now, Chirag, who has effectively been kicked out of his own party, jokingly added, "He is not even a Chief Ministerial candidate."

Nitish Kumar demands enquiry in the Pegasus row

The statement of Chirag Paswan comes in response to Nitish Kumar's demand for an investigation in the Pegasus row. Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister of Bihar earlier in the day said, "Whatever is there, it should be investigated, and the whole thing should come out. Let everyone know what the reality is so that no one is disturbed in the future." 

This is not the first time that Nitish has voiced his opinion against the scheme, policies, or issues related to its ally - the BJP. A Few days back, when numerous BJP-ruled states were propagating population control policies, the Bihar Chief Minister had asserted that laws will prove 'futile' in bringing down the 1.3 billion count.

Besides this, he had also not backed the Central government in as many words when Article 370 was abrogated. He was also not very vocal in supporting the government on NRC, CAA, Triple Talaq, Uniform Civil Code, and Ayodhya case among others. 

Bihar assembly election results

In the 2020 assembly elections of Bihar, the NDA edged past the Mahagathbandhan to win the Bihar elections, with the BJP emerging as the dominant partner for the first time in about two decades. The JDU won 43 seats, and together the parties under the NDA  pulled ahead with 125 seats against the Grand Alliance’s 110, 75 of which were secured by the RJD while the Congress and Left secured 19 and 16 seats respectively in the 243-member Assembly.

In spite of not getting a good number of seats, the JDU supremo was given the Chief Ministerial post but things have not been smooth in the NDA government. In the month of January, there were rumours that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was under 'a lot of pressure' in the NDA government and was contemplating switching to the Mahagathbandhan to 'work freely' for the development of the state. However, it was later refuted by the members of the alliance.