Sharad Pawar hails Nitish Kumar's NDA exit; 'Maharashtra-like situation was visible'

Commenting on the change of guard in Bihar, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar hailed Nitish Kumar's decision to quit NDA and return to the Mahagatbandhan fold. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, he highlighted the manner in which BJP allegedly weakened its alliance partners like Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal. Moreover, Pawar contended that Kumar took a wise decision in the interest of his party as a Maharashtra-like situation was likely to repeat in Bihar. He was referring to the allegation that the BJP was instrumental in engineering a rebellion in Shiv Sena leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. 

Sharad Pawar said, "The BJP national president made a speech somewhere recently and he himself said that regional parties have no future. They will cease to exist. And only our party will remain in the country. One thing is clear from this. Nitish Kumar complained that BJP is slowly finishing its allies. The big example of that of a big party like the Akali Dal in Punjab. A big leader like Parkash Singh Badal was with them. Today, that party is on the verge of extinction. Shiv Sena and BJP were together in Maharashtra for many years. Today, BJP tried to weaken the Shiv Sena by dividing it. Eknath Shinde and others helped them."

The NCP chief elaborated, "The same situation was visible in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is a leader who has acceptance among people. In the last election, Nitish Kumar and BJP contested together. But BJP has one more specialty. It comes together at the time of election and tries to ensure that less number of candidates of the ally get elected. The Bihar CM was vigilant, tendered his resignation and decided to part ways with BJP." 

The collapse of NDA government

In the past few months, BJP and JDU have been at loggerheads on a plethora of issues including the liquor ban, the Agnipath scheme and the law and order situation.  The latest flashpoint was JDU's allegations against its own leader RCP Singh who was a part of the Union Cabinet till July 6. Amid speculation about Singh's perceived closeness to BJP, JDU leveled corruption allegations against him and hinted that BJP was planning to use him like Chirag Paswan to orchestrate its downfall. After breaking the alliance with BJP on Tuesday, staked claim to form a new government with the support of 164 MLAs.

As per sources, there will be 35 Ministers in the Nitish Kumar-led Mahagatbandhan government. Being the single-largest party in the coalition as well as the Bihar Assembly with 79 seats, RJD will get more Ministerial berths than JDU. While RJD is likely to have 15 Ministers, Nitish Kumar's party may have to settle for 13 Ministerial berths. 4 members of Congress which has 19 seats in the Assembly are also set to be accommodated in the Council of Ministers. Moreover, smaller parties such as HAM(S) can bag only 1 Ministry. The JDU leader will be sworn in as the CM today.