BJP JDU Relations History: The alliance of BJP and JDU is said to be 17 years old, although once it has made a dent but JDU again made a comeback in it. Now once again there is speculation about the weakening of the BJP-JDU alliance and it is being said that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar can leave the BJP at any time.
Amidst the rapidly changing political developments in Bihar, let us know how Nitish Kumar’s government was formed in Bihar for the first time with the support of BJP and when was the BJP-JDU relationship.
JDU came into existence like this
Before 2003, Janata Dal United (JDU) used to be only Janata Dal. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, a faction of the Janata Dal supported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), after which the party split into two. The first part formed the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) party under the leadership of HD Deve Gowda and the second part was commanded by Sharad Yadav. On 30 October 2003, the factions of Sharad Yadav, Lokshakti Party and Samata Party merged and thus the new party Janata Dal United was formed. However, the Election Commission canceled the merger of the Samata Party.
When Nitish Kumar became CM for the first time with the support of BJP
JDU had joined the NDA before the 2005 assembly elections in Bihar. The BJP and JDU fought together for the first time in the 2005 assembly elections and defeated the RJD-led UPA government. But this year the assembly elections were held twice. In the first election, President’s rule was imposed due to lack of clear majority of 122 and then in October-November again elections were held, then BJP-JDU formed the government. Thus Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister for the first time with the support of BJP.
RJD fought the 2005 elections under the leadership of Lalu Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi. In the first election, RJD had won 75 seats. JDU had contested 138 seats and won 55 seats, while BJP had fielded candidates in 103 seats and won 37 seats. Congress could win only 10 seats. President’s rule was imposed due to no one having a clear majority of 122.
Re-elections were held in October-November this year, in which JDU contested 139 seats and became the single largest party winning 88 seats. BJP won 55 out of 102 seats, RJD 54 out of 175, Lok Janshakti Party won 10 seats out of 203 and Congress could win only 9 out of 51 seats.
When Nitish’s relationship with BJP broke
Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the relations between the BJP and the JDU were strained due to their respective political interests. BJP 2014 election BJP Narendra Modi He was made the head of the election type committee. JDU ended its alliance with NDA in protest. In the Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar contested with the Communist Party but failed. After the election results, there was a big upheaval in Bihar’s power. Nitish Kumar had resigned from the post of CM and Jitan Ram Manjhi became the CM. When BJP asked this government to prove its majority, RJD had given support to JDU and the government was saved from falling.
In April 2015, JDU, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Samajwadi Janata Party and Indian National Lok Dal announced to leave the UPA and form a grand alliance, but there was no mutual coordination between the parties regarding seats, the Samajwadi Party distanced itself. In the 2015 assembly elections, JDU, RJD and Congress fought together and this alliance won 178 seats. Nitish Kumar once again became the CM.
Return of JDU in NDA
On 26 July 2017, Nitish Kumar resigned from the post by announcing the end of the grand alliance formed 20 months ago and the very next day JDU returned to the NDA and with the support of BJP, Nitish again took oath as CM. NDA proved majority in the house.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won a landslide victory in Bihar. NDA won 39 seats out of 40. BJP won 17 seats, LJP 6 and JDU 16 seats. In the 2020 assembly elections too, JDU contested with the NDA and formed the government, but in the tenure of one and a half years, many times the talk of differences between the two has been echoing in the political corridors.
Current state of politics in Bihar
For a long time, CM Nitish Kumar has kept distance from the meetings and programs of the Modi government. He also did not attend the meeting of NITI Aayog. On the contrary, there was news of him contacting Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi over phone. At the same time, speculations of a big upheaval in Bihar’s power after RCP Singh’s sudden resignation from JDU and JDU called a meeting of party MPs-MLAs, gained momentum. have taken. The market for speculation about JDU’s departure with Azadi is hot. At present, nothing has been said by the BJP regarding the matter. He is in a wait and watch situation.