Bihar Election 2020: Tejashwi Yadav says ‘may take’ Chirag’s support to dethrone Nitish Kumar, clarifies later

Bihar Election 2020: Tejashwi Yadav has made yet another statement that may further confuse voters about the post-poll alliance scenario in Bihar. He has now said that the opposition led by him would not hesitate in taking support from Chirag Paswan’s LJP “if required” to form the government in the state. This comes just days after he targeted chief minister Nitish Kumar for “unfairly” treating Chirag Paswan.

Addressing a rally in Jamui, Lok Sabha constituency of Chirag, Opposition’s CM candidate Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said: “If required, we will seek the support of the LJP during government formation.” The RJD is in alliance with Congress, CPI, CPI-M and CPI-ML. The LJP, on the other hand, contested the polls alone. The RJD is contesting on 144 seats while LJP is fighting on 143.

Chirag Paswan claims that his party will win more seats than JDU. However, the LJP’s own assessment based on Lok Sabha election performance pegs the number somewhere between 35 and 42. Both Chirag and Tejashwi want Nitish Kumar out as chief minister. While Tejashwi Yadav is fighting to dethrone the NDA government in the state, Chirag is soft on the BJP and wants to form the government with it after poll results.

Chirag is still a partner in the Central government with BJP. He has also spared the BJP and fielded candidates only against the JDU. The state of confusion still persists as Chirag has been claiming respect for Prime Minister Modi and is willing to back it for the government formation, that BJP has on the other hand called the LJP just a vote cutter party. The LJP has maintained that it will form the government with BJP but the latter has announced that its chief ministerial candidate is Nitish Kumar and Chirag was “misleading” people.

The state of confusion among voters was further aggravated by Tejashwi’s comment of taking support from Chirag. While many believe that this move may be an indication by Tejashwi to get Chirag on his side, the LJP on Monday rejected such reading saying it never went in a post-poll alliance and that it will continue this practice.
Tejashwi too came out and spoke to the media seeking to clear the air around a secret nexus between RJD and the LJP. Tejashwi said that Chirag has made it abundantly clear that he is supporting the BJP. “There is no question of it (supporting the LJP). Chirag Paswan has himself officially declared his support for the BJP on several occasions. He has been praising Narendra Modi all around. This question of alliance with him simply does not arise,” Tejashwi told reporters on Tuesday.