Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made headlines by skipping the grand swearing-in ceremony of N Chandrababu Naidu as Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

Despite sharing a good rapport with Naidu during government formation in Delhi, Kumar chose to stay in Patna, sparking reactions from both allies and opposition.

The star-studded event saw participation from NDA's top brass, but Nitish's absence prompted speculation about his spin around and the unity within the alliance. While the BJP cited "other commitments" as the reason, opposition parties saw it as a sign of internal discord.

RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad commented on the situation suggesting Kumar's decision indicated underlying issues within the NDA. “Though this is their internal decision, it is crystal clear that all is not well within the NDA. The cracks will continue to surface,” said RJD leader.

He noted that Tejashwi Yadav had predicted such cracks even before the Lok Sabha poll results were announced.

Congress spokesperson Gyan Ranjan attributed Nitish’s absence to dissatisfaction over the "disproportionate allocation of portfolios" during the recent cabinet formation.

Ranjan said, “All eyes were set on Nitish after Bihar was sidelined during portfolio allocation. We knew this would happen but never anticipated it would happen this early.”

NDA will not continue at the helms for long, he added.

Dismissing the opposition's claims, BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash said, “The days when we were blamed to be a political party with a stronghold in the north of the Vindhya Ranges are gone. We already had a government in Karnataka and NDA has a better presence in south India now.”

He suggested Nitish's absence was due to other commitments and warned against media misinterpretations.

Source: indiatoday