Can Nitish Kumar hold on to chief minister's chair after splitting with the NDA in Bihar?

In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal(United) has only 43 MLAs while the BJP has 74. To stake claim to form the government, a majority mark of 122 is required

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar has come to an end after Nitish Kumar pulled out his party, the Janata Dal (United) {JD(U)} from the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

All eyes now turn to the number game in the state Assembly.

Number game

The Bihar Legislative Assembly comprises a total of 243 seats, bringing the majority mark to 122 seats.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came out on top, bagging 125 seats. Of the 125, the BJP was on top with 74 seats and the JD(U) came in second with 43 seats. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats and the Hindustan Awaam Party (Secular) {HAM(S)} bagged another four.

As per the Election Commission data, the BJP’s vote share was 19.5 per cent while the JD(U) had won 15.4 per cent.

With the JD(U) pulling out of the alliance, the BJP does not have the numbers to remain in power.

If Nitish join hands with the RJD…

It is left to be seen if Nitish Kumar joins hands with his one-time partner — the RJD. It’s important to note here that the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had pulled out of the alliance with the RJD in 2017, citing the ‘no-corruption’ plank. The charges then were against Lalu’s son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav.

In the 2020 elections, the Tejashwi Yadav-led party fought the elections in a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ with the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) {CPI(ML)} and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

In the elections, the Grand Alliance won 110 seats, of which RJD bagged 75, the Congress won 19, the CPI(ML) won 12 and the CPI secured two seats.

In June, the RJD received a huge boost when four All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLAs joined the Tejashwi Yadav-led party, pushing the numbers of the party to 80 in the 243-member House in Bihar.

If Nitish now with his 43 MLAs does decide to partner up with Tejashwi, they will have the numbers 123 members in the Assembly, two shy of the majority mark, which would be secured along with the Grand Alliance partners.

What unfolds in Bihar is yet to be seen.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .