Here's why Tejashwi Yadav conceded CM post to Nitish Kumar

New Delhi: In a tactical move, necessitated due to developments in Maharashtra, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) decided to forego its claim on the post of chief minister (CM) for party leader Tejashwi Yadav and agreed to keep Nitish Kumar as CM paving the way for the Janata Dal United (JDU) leader to take oath as Bihar CM for the 8th time, sources said.

Initially when the talks between RJD and JDU started few months ago on a serious note, the former was insistent on seeking the CM post for Tejashwi Yadav, who was then leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly. 

“Nitish wasn’t ready for leaving the CM post for obvious reasons. Initially, there was even talk of making a third person as CM but when Maharashtra’s revolt happened, things moved at a faster pace. RJD’s supreme leader Lalu Yadav was in agreement that Nitish can continue as CM but Tejashwi was a bit hesitant as he had been calling Nitish as 'Paltu Chacha' (Uncle who switched sides) ever since the JDU leader broke alliance with RJD in 2017 and joined the NDA again. But finally, it was decided it’s best to keep Nitish as CM in order to avoid any split in the JDU later,” said a source aware of the developments.

The source added that it was understood that Nitish would be in much better position to keep his party together as the CM, especially when former JDU leader RCP Singh was allegedly trying to break the party.

"RCP Singh had been joined by at least two ministers on the last cabinet of Nitish Kumar to break the JDU," the source said.

Singh was once a right-hand man of Nitish Kumar but later both fell out. Singh was denied the Rajya Sabha re-nomination and therefore he had to leave the Union cabinet.

“But RCP Singh wasn’t a popular leader within the JDU ranks. Many JDU leaders didn’t like him out of jealousy due to his closeness to Nitish and this made his task of engineering a split in the party all the more difficult later,” added the source.

Many RJD leaders claim that the understanding between the RJD and JDU had reached before the presidential polls. They claim that Nitish tactically voted with the NDA during the presidential polls. But this has left Yashwant Sinha, the presidential candidate put up by the opposition, a bit upset. 

Political observers say Nitish in a tactical move gave importance to Congress, which has 19 MLAs in the state, in order to keep a check on RJD. 

A phone call to Congress president Sonia Gandhi by Nitish Kumar is part of the same move. Congress might get at least four ministerial posts in the Nitish cabinet when it is expanded in due course. 

Initially, there was a plan to give the post of assembly speaker to Congress but apparently, Lalu Yadav decided that four ministries are enough for Congress.