After poll strategist Prashant Kishor claimed that Nitish Kumar might ally with BJP again, former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi didn’t rule out this possibility. After briefly serving as the CM during his stint in JD(U), he founded the HAM(S) in 2015 which won 4 seats in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls. While Manjhi is one of the 4 HAM(S) MLAs, his son Santosh Kumar Suman is an MLC serving as a Minister in the Mahagathbandhan government. Speaking to the media on Saturday, he extended his support to Kumar in the scenario that he decides to return to the NDA fold in Bihar’s interest. 

Jitan Ram Manjhi remarked, “I don’t know what his calculation is. Nitish Kumar has said that we won’t go with BJP under any circumstances. But it is my personal opinion that two plus two is not 4 in politics. Two plus two can be 6 too or two plus two can be two as well. Nitish Kumar can talk about changing the government in the state’s interest if there is a serious problem with what is going on now. We will welcome that.” 

“If Nitish Kumar feels that the state will benefit if he switches sides and if he does that, we will welcome that. But there is no such thing, he has denied. As far as PK is concerned, he is saying something based on his calculation. So, I don’t want to talk about him,” he added. 

Prashant Kishor makes big claim

Two months after leaving NDA, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar still hasn’t closed his channel of communication with BJP, Prashant Kishor claimed on Thursday. A vice president with JD(U), the poll strategist was expelled from the party on January 29, 2020, for anti-party activities. Interacting with the people during his Padayatra in the West Champaran district, Kishor questioned Kumar on why JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh continues as the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha even after he joined hands with RJD to form the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar. 

“After having snapped ties with the BJP, Nitish Kumar should have asked Harivansh to step down. If he insisted on occupying the post, he could have been expelled from the JD(U). But Nitish is having this arrangement to keep options open for the future,” Kishor alleged. Highlighting that the JD(U) leader sought votes in the name of defeating the BJP in the 2015 Assembly polls but cheated the public by realigning two years later, the IPAC co-founder predicted that Kumar might do a turnaround once again.