JD(U)'s exit a blow for NDA

The dead-end for the BJP-JD(U) alliance, which had seen many ups and downs in the last 17 years, marks a new low for the NDA which has seen several trusted allies parting ways since the coalition lost power in 2004.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who scripted the snapping of ties with BJP over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation as Election Campaign Committee head of the party, was ironically one among the founders of the NDA.
In 1996, the erstwhile Samata Party- predecessor of the JD(U)- joined the NDA with Kumar and George Fernandes as the main faces of the party.

Fernandes was the Defence Minister in the NDA government while Nitish Kumar was given charge of Railways. Sharad Yadav, who quit as NDA Convenor today, was the Aviation Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Fernandes was the NDA Convenor then and played a key role in the government's decision-making as well.
Significantly, Kumar did not criticise the post-Godhra riots and continued in the NDA government. He even praised Modi in 2003 and said he will assume a prominent role in national politics in future.

LJP Chief Ram Vilas Paswan had quit the NDA Cabinet after the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Earlier in 2000, Kumar became chief minister of Bihar but had to resign seven days later due to fractured mandate and failing to prove majority.
BJP and JD(U) contested 2004 General Elections as part of an alliance and won 5 and 6 seats respectively in Bihar.
In 2005, JD(U)-BJP won the Assembly elections in Bihar and Kumar became Chief Minister. The coalition gave a crushing defeat to RJD, LJP and Congress in 2010. JD(U) won 115 seats while BJP got 91.