‘CM turned to RJD amid BJP threat in 2022’

Patna: The RJD on Saturday claimed it was CM Nitish Kumar who approached the party in 2022 to join the Grand Alliance (GA). The revelation was made during the party's national executive meeting, which was attended by numerous leaders from across the country. Nitish had formed the GA govt in Aug 2022 after breaking ties with the BJP. However, in Jan 2024, he returned to the NDA fold to form a new govt.The party's resolution stated that Nitish, fearing a split within his JD(U), had sought help from RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Yadav. In response, RJD allowed Nitish's inclusion in the GA and permitted him to continue as CM, despite RJD being the single largest party.The resolution also accused Nitish of falling into BJP's "traps" and being unable to make independent decisions. It alleged that the GA fell short of forming its own govt in 2020 by just 12,000 votes due to "administrative fraud". It further criticised the NDA for sidelining opposition and failing to address crises like the unrest in Manipur.