What's cooking between the BJP and Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) in Bihar?

On Sunday, Kumar reportedly called Sonia Gandhi and asked for an appointment. Kumar had earlier skipped the oath-taking ceremony of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu

Tensions are brewing between Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar. On Sunday, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar skipped the Niti Aayog governing council meeting chaired by PM Modi. This is the fourth consecutive time since July 17 that Kumar has steered clear of the invitations to meetings by the BJP-led government.

On Sunday, Nitish reportedly called Sonia Gandhi and asked for an appointment, according to News18. He had earlier skipped the oath-taking ceremony of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu.

JDU president Lalan Singh has also accused the BJP of trying to weaken Kumar's hold over the party, according to NDTV. Singh said that in the 2021 elections, the BJP ensured that Kumar's votes were split. JDU won 43 out of the total 243 assembly seats.

"Two conspiracies were hatched against Nitish Kumar in recent times — one the Chirag model of 2020, which was responsible for bringing down our Assembly seats to 43. Another had been in the making and was nipped in the bud," Singh said.

The second conspiracy is around RCP Singh. According to reports, Nitish had been uneasy that Singh accepted a ministerial post in the central government without his go-ahead. Nitish did not nominate Singh for the Rajya Sabha, after which he quit the party on Saturday amid a souring of relations with the Bihar CM.

JDU has also reportedly been unhappy with Bihar's projection as a 'terror haven state' by the central government. A News18 report also stated that Kumar never wanted to be a part of the BJP's central government, and Singh made a move on his own.

Nitish has also asked all the MLAs of JDU to reach Patna by Monday evening. This has fired up the speculations about the future of the Bihar government.

However, BJP has been trying to placate Kumar. Speaking at a party meeting in Patna, Home minister Amit Shah said that BJP and JDU will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Assembly elections together.

What unfolds in Bihar is yet to be seen.