Bihar's Political Chessboard: Here's How MLA Count For Each Party Stands After Nitish Kumar's Resignation As CM

Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar Chief Minister today (28 January), concluding the nearly two-year alliance between his party, Janata Dal(United), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Kumar has now rekindled ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and is set to form government again with the party.

Additionally, the BJP and JD(U) have reached an agreement on seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in three months.

In 2022, Nitish Kumar severed connections with the BJP and formed a government through the 'Mahagatbandhan' with Lalu Yadav's RJD, the Congress, and Left parties.

Despite being the largest party in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, RJD falls 43 seats short of the majority mark.

The BJP holds the second-highest number of seats with 78, and the assembly's composition is as follows:

RJD: 79 MLAs, BJP: 78 MLAs, JD(U): 45, Congress: 19, CPI (M-L): 12, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular): 4, CPI: 2, CPI (M): 2, AIMIM: 1 and Independent MLA: 1.

The potential alliance between Nitish Kumar and the BJP would have 123 MLAs, just one above the majority threshold. With the support of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, adding four more MLAs, the alliance aims to establish a majority, as reported by NDTV.

The 'Mahagatbandhan' faces a challenge as JD(U) exits, leaving them eight MLAs short of a majority.

However, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav suggests that they could still stake a claim to form the government with the backing of Congress and left parties, totalling 114 MLAs—eight shy of the majority mark.