Amid switchover speculation, Nitish Kumar arrives at Disaster Management event alone

Patna (Bihar) [India], January 27 (ANI): Amid reports that Nitish Kumar may rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Bihar Chief Minister arrived for the inauguration of the state's Fire Fighting Vehicle on Saturday.
Though the event falls under the aegis of the state's Disaster Management Department, which is headed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, only Kumar was seen present at the event.
The inauguration event takes place amid speculations that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may cross over to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) again, an alliance he left in 2022 to join hands with the opposition and form 'Mahagathbandhan'.
The political confusion amongst the allies of the rulling faction has caught parties off guard.
Bihar Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra said, "The people in power should end this situation of confusion and bring clarity...For us, Nitish ji is still a part of the INDIA alliance."
RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha also appealed to the Bihar CM to end the speculation and confusion.
"All this is a rumour. And the restlessness which has arisen due to this rumour can only be taken care of by CM Nitish Kumar... Bihar is a topic of discussion in the whole country, and for good reason. I don't see any rift. In the end, the head of this 'mahagathbandhan' is Nitish Kumar. Lalu Prasad and Tejaswi Yadav laid the foundation, the purpose of which was to defeat the hate politics being done by PM Modi..." Manoj Jha said.
However the JDU is yet to clear the air and underline the way forward for the state.
JD (U) MLC Neeraj Kumar sais, "Nitish Kumar ji is the elected CM of the state. He does not aspire for any post. Those who have confusion in their mind should know better. Who can target those who have the arrow in their own hands?..."
Meanwhile, a Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJP) meeting is scheduled in Patna over the weekend in which Bihar BJP leaders are slated to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday said that the door can be opened if needed, indicating a possible revival of ties between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -led JDU.
Nitish Kumar, after parting ways with the BJP in 2022, took on the initiative of uniting all opposition forces to jointly take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national election. He hosted the first meeting of opposition parties in Patna, and it was widely believed that he would eventually be the coalition's Convenor.
If Nitish crosses over, this would be the fourth time he would be switching sides. In the Bihar Assembly of 243, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP's 78; the JD(U)'s 45' the Congress's 19, the CPI (M-L)'s 12, two each of the CPI(M) and CPI, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)'s four seats, and the AIMIM's one, plus one Independent legislator. (ANI)