Why Nitish Kumar dumped BJP despite Amit Shah's assurance: A tale of six call recordings proving 'treachery'

Even before Nitish Kumar made a fresh flip-flop to quit the NDA and rejoin the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, it was reported that the BJP was aware of the JD(U) chief’s plan to jump the ship and didn’t making any efforts to stop him. 

While many were still thinking about the reason behind this, Kumar made the move amid suspicion that the BJP may dump his party after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and go it alone in the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls. 

What seems to have cemented his apprehension is a report by news agency IANS which quoted sources saying that the JD(U) top leadership has more than six audio recordings where its MLAs and a minister were given lucrative offers to rebel against Kumar. The report, however, did not name the party and leaders who gave the offers to the JD(U) MLAs. 

Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, during his statement on Sunday, had pointed out the `Chirag model`, which was used by a particular party to weaken Nitish Kumar and JD(U)due to which the JD(U) could win only 43 seats in the last Assembly polls. 

He also claimed that he has the "exact proof of the conspiracy being hatched against Nitish Kumar and JD(U)". He had said that "the Chirag model was just a trailer, the actual film was pending".

IANS quoted sources saying that the JD(U) has recordings of more than six telephonic conversations, which were recorded by the legislators themselves. In those telephonic audio conversations, leaders of a particular party had given them lucrative offers of making them ministers apart from crores of rupees.

The party was prepared to “expose” the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ attempt to break Kumar’s party and place its own chief minister. 

With the suspicions triggering from Chirag episode, they aggravated with former MP RCP Singh’s proximity with the BJP, which eventually led to his exit from the JD(U). Kumar was wary that the BJP could be trying a Maharashtra in Bihar. 

Kumar made the move despite being assured by Union Home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda that the former would remain the NDA’s face in Bihar in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

NDTV quoted senior BJP leader Sushil Modi claiming that Shah had called Kumar a day before he dumped the BJP and the latter had assured that the former had “nothing to worry about”.