In sharp remarks on the Bihar power shift, poll strategist Prashant Kishor has called Chief Minister Nitish Kumar “paltumaar” and said flip-flops have become a part of his politics. Mr Kishor, who now heads the Jan Suraj organisation that may back some candidates in the next Bihar election, did not spare the BJP either and said its leaders, who were criticising Mr Kumar days back, are now welcoming him.

‘Paltumar’ means someone who keeps shifting his stand. In the wake of five political flip-flops in a decade, Mr Kumar is being described as ‘paltumar’ or ‘paltu kumar’ by critics.

#WATCH | Begusarai: On On JDU Chief Nitish Kumar resigning as the CM of Bihar and JD(U)-BJP alliance, Prashant Kishor, Poll Strategist says, “I have been saying this since starting that Nitish Kumar can swap anytime. This has become a part of his politics… He is a ‘paltumaar’.… pic.twitter.com/V7LR9rcJ71

— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2024

“I have been saying this since starting that Nitish Kumar can swap anytime. This has become a part of his politics. But today’s developments have shown that all parties and leaders in Bihar are ‘paltumaars’. It is now proved that (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, (Home Minister) Amit Shah and the BJP are also ‘paltumaars’,” Mr Kishor said in a press meet, a video of which has been shared by ANI.

The poll strategist had briefly joined the JDU in 2018 and was elevated to the post of the party vice-president. He was, however, expelled shortly after his remarks criticising the JDU’s decision to back the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The BJP, he said, was saying months back that its doors are shut for Mr Kumar. “The BJP leaders verbally abusing Nitish Kumar yesterday will now hail him as a symbol of good governance. RJD, which was calling him a leader for the future, will see corruption in Bihar today,” he said.

The world knows that Mr Kumar is a paltumaar and it is not a subject worth discussing anymore, he said. “But today’s developments show that Mr Kumar has painted the state’s politics in his colours and BJP and RJD are as big ‘paltumaars’ as Nitish Kumar,” he said.

Mr Kishor made another prediction while responding to the Bihar developments. “I make another prediction and you can catch me if I am proven wrong. The alliance that has been formed will not last till the assembly polls. In fact, it may come apart within a few months of the Lok Sabha polls,” he said, according to a PTI report.

“The BJP is doing now what the Congress had done during RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s time. Both national parties have aligned with hugely unpopular regional leaders for small gains at the central level,” he added.

Earlier, Mr Kumar resigned as Chief Minister this morning, ending his alliance with the RJD and the Congress one-and-a-half years after he parted ways with the BJP and returned to the Opposition alliance.

The eight-time Chief Minister is likely to take the oath of office for the ninth time this evening. Eight ministers, including two Deputy Chief Ministers from the BJP, will be sworn in with Mr Kumar.

Nitish Kumar is back to where he was in July 2022 – with the BJP. He is still the Chief Minister of Bihar, though he has got two new deputies, both from the BJP, instead of his long-time friend Sushil Kumar Modi, who has moved on as a Rajya Sabha MP after August 2022 when Nitish Kumar ditched the BJP and rejoined the Mahagathbandhan.

After taking oath for the ninth time as Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar told reporters, “We are going to stay together now.”

“You all know how I came to this (Mahagathbandhan) alliance and also how I worked to bring together so many parties. But of late things were not working well. It was not going down well with those in my party as well,” Nitish Kumar, 72, said.

BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha have been appointed as Deputy Chief Ministers.

“I was with them (NDA) earlier too. We went on different paths, but now we are together and will remain so. Today, eight people have taken oath as ministers; the rest will take oath soon. Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha have been appointed Deputy Chief Ministers,” Nitish Kumar told reporters.

When asked about outgoing Deputy Chief Minister and Lalu Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav’s comment that “JD(U) will be finished in 2024”, Nitish Kumar said his party will work for the development and progress of the state.

“… We will keep doing the same, nothing else. Tejashwi was not doing anything. Now I came back to where I was (NDA) and now there is no question of going anywhere else,” he added.

Congratulating Nitish Kumar and his two deputies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the newly sworn-in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar will leave no stone unturned for the state’s development and to fulfil people’s aspirations.

No leader of Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the single-largest party in the Bihar assembly, was present at the oath-taking ceremony.

Tejashwi Yadav had said the JD(U) will be “destroyed” in the upcoming assembly election. “The game is not over for us. The game has just begun,” the young leader said.

Nitish Kumar had indicated he was not happy with the way things were going in the Mahagathbandhan in the state as well as the newly formed Opposition bloc INDIA.

The defection of Nitish Kumar from the Opposition ranks — while being a major blow — has also given them a huge  opportunity bash the BJP as well as Nitish Kumar. While this has revived Mr Kumar’s earlier reputation as “Paltu Ram”, he has amassed a handful of pejoratives – from “Tired”to “chameleon”.
 
This was the second time Mr Kumar had dumped the Opposition and sought greener fields under the NDA banner. The last time he did so was in 2017, when he refused to continue with the Grand Alliance after corruption allegations against Lalu Yadav and his son and then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.  

Even so, the Mahagathbandhan got together in 2022 as Mr Kumar ditched the BJP and crossed over to the other side.

Leaders of the Congress, RJD, DMK, JMM, Trinamool Congress, CPI(ML)-L and AAP attacked Mr Kumar today.

Tejashwi Yadav, who had got back his Deputy Chief Minister post after Nitish Kumar came back, was bitter.

“He was a tired Chief Minister… I can give you in writing that the JDU party will be finished in 2024. The public is with us,” he said.

The Congress called Mr Kumar a “chameleon”. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the party’s media in-charge Jairam Ramesh said: “Nitish Kumar, who frequently changes political partners, is giving a tough competition to chameleons in changing colours.” The people of Bihar will not forgive this “expert of betrayal” and those who are making him dance to their tunes, he added.

Nitish Kumar “has created a new record of forming the government with all the parties in a single term,” said Sharad Pawar in a jibe.

“Earlier, a saying ‘Aayaram Gayaram’ had become very famous in Haryana. But Nitish left it behind in Bihar also,” he added.

His alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray was scathing.

“We are not living in Ram Rajya but in the reign of ‘Paltu Rams’. Had there been Ram Rajya, Manoj Jarange would not have been needed to come to Mumbai (for the Maratha quota demand,” Mr Thackeray said.

Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on X, formerly Twitter, the derisive comments on the freshly minted allies — Nitish Kumar’s comment that he would prefer death to allying with the BJP, and a series of comments by Amit Shah.

“मर जाना क़बूल है, उनके साथ जाना क़बूल नहीं है । ये अच्छी तरह जान लीजिये !”

नीतीश कुमार

“पलटूराम ने जनादेश का अपमान किया है”
“अरे पलटू बाबू, कुछ तो लिहाज रखो “
“छठ मैया से प्रार्थना करता हूं कि पलटू राम से मुक्त हो बिहार”
“नीतीश कुमार के लिए BJP के दरवाजे बंद”

अमित शाह

— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) January 28, 2024

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP has insulted the people of Bihar and also the public opinion. “The public will respond to this insult by defeating the BJP alliance in the Lok Sabha elections,” his post read.