MODI’S BJP LOSES A CRUCIAL INDIAN STATE AFTER ITS ALLY SWITCHES SIDES

Tue 09 August 2022:

In Bihar, India’s third-most populous state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lost power on Tuesday as a regional ally joined an opposition coalition that now has the majority to form the next government.

The breakdown in government in Bihar is a rare defeat for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which controls politics in the nation and sends the fourth most elected legislators to parliament.

The partnership in Bihar disintegrated ahead of the general election in 2024, which the BJP is still predicted to win for a third straight term unless several opposition parties can unite to defeat Modi’s support.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, from the regional Janata Dal (United) party, told reporters he resigned after his party colleagues recommended exiting the BJP coalition. He accused the BJP of trying to undermine his party, a charge the BJP denied.

Kumar said his new alliance, with the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal as its biggest constituent, had a comfortable majority and that a new government would be formed soon.

The BJP said Kumar had betrayed it and the people of Bihar, after having together won the last state election in 2020.

The BJP coalition won 39 out of the 40 parliamentary seats in Bihar in the 2019 general election, helping Modi win one of the biggest mandates in India in decades.

“I am sure the people of Bihar will teach Nitish Kumar a lesson,” said state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal. “We will keep fighting. We will not only do well in 2024, but also win more than two-thirds of the total assembly seats in the next state election in 2025.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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