Peeved at Nitish Kumar's 'betrayal', BJP to stage dharna in Patna before oath ceremony

Hurt at Nitish Kumar's decision to quit NDA and join hands with RJD, BJP decided to stage a massive dharna on Wednesday ahead of his oath-taking ceremony. In a statement issued a day earlier, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal revealed that party workers will protest in Patna from 10 am onwards. He also announced that the saffron party shall carry out protests at the district and block level in the days ahead. Coming down heavily on Kumar, Jaiswal contended that the people of Bihar will never forgive the JDU leader.  

BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal stated, "The way Nitish Kumar has stabbed the people of Bihar in the back with the dagger of betrayal, the people of Bihar will never forgive him. The people of Bihar will definitely teach them a lesson in the coming elections. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, we all got a majority in the assembly elections in 2020 but they have insulted public opinion. Against the betrayal, BJP workers will sit on a dharna in front of the BJP's state office from 10 am tomorrow. On August 12, Mahadharna will be organised by the BJP in all the district headquarters of Bihar and on August 13 at the block headquarters also."

Nitish Kumar to form Mahagatbandhan government

5 years after returning to the NDA fold, Nitish Kumar took another U-turn and joined hands with RJD, Congress, and the Left once again. He submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan and staked claim to form a new government with the support of 164 MLAs. Thus, only BJP and the lone AIMIM MLA constitute the opposition space in Bihar now. Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will be sworn in as the CM and Deputy CM respectively in the Raj Bhavan at 2 pm today. Sources revealed that the Bihar CM is eyeing the possibility of being the opposition candidate for the Prime Minister's post in 2024.

Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, former Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad weighed in on this speculation. He opined, "Nothing wrong in having PM ambitions. In a democracy, everyone has, so no problem. But there is one caveat: there is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister. Narendra Modi is a popular PM, doing great for the country. He will be elected again in 2024 and also in 2029. There is no embargo on daydreaming".