JD(U) Returns to NDA: From 2013 to 2024, Nitish Kumar's History of Flip-Flops

History shows that Kumar is no stranger to 'flip-flops' – he has jumped alliances many times over the past 10 years.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar speaks to the media after submitting his resignation as the Bihar Chief Minister to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, outside Raj Bhavan, in Patna, Sunday, 28 January.

(Photo: PTI)

In a matter of a few hours on Sunday, 28 January, Janata Dal (United) (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar, broke the Mahagathbandhan government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the state, quit the Opposition INDIA alliance, and returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.

At 5:00 pm on Sunday, Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time.

History, clearly, shows that Kumar is no stranger to 'flip-flopping' – he has jumped alliances multiple times over the past 10 years.

Here's a look at all the times he jumped ship:

In June 2013, Nitish Kumar cut his decades-old ties with the BJP-led NDA after it announced Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial face in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said he wanted someone with a "clean and secular image" to become PM and had called for a "Sangh-mukt Bharat". After breaking the NDA government in Bihar, he became the CM again by joining hands with the RJD with the Congress' help.

In 2014, Nitish Kumar resigned as the Bihar CM taking "moral responsibility" for JD(U)'s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The party appointed Jitan Ram Manjhi as the next CM. JD(U) only won two out of the 40 seats in Bihar in the LS polls. BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had then described Kumar's resignation as a "political stunt".

In 2015, Nitish Kumar removed Manjhi as chief minister (with some difficulty) and took back the post. In the Bihar Assembly elections later that year, JD(U)'s grand alliance with RJD won the state. Kumar said in 2023 that "it was a mistake to make Jitan Ram Manjhi the chief minister." 

Nitish Kumar quit the Mahagathbandhan in 2017 over corruption charges against his deputy and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's younger son Tejashwi Yadav. He returned to the NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In August 2022, Nitish Kumar had joined the Mahagathbandhan with RJD yet again after accusing the BJP of creating a rift within the JD(U). He became the chief minister and Tejashwi Yadav was appointed his deputy.

Nitish Kumar quit the Mahagathbandhan again on Sunday, 28 January, and staked a claim to join the government with the BJP. The JD(U) claimed "issues" in the Mahagathbandhan government with the RJD prompted Kumar to resign as CM. The party also attacked the Congress for "trying to steal the leadership" in the Opposition INDIA bloc, which the JD(U) has now quit.