Sanjay Jha at Idea Exchange: ‘Two people destroyed the India Bloc alliance: Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal’
He was in conversation with Deeptiman Tiwary, Deputy Associate Editor, The Indian Express.Deeptiman Tiwary: You are leading the JD(U) at a time when many believe the party is at a political crossroads. Questions are being raised about its future and the need to build a new leadership. You fought the last election with Nitish Kumar as the face, winning over 200 seats in the Assembly. Yet, shortly after, he exited Bihar politics. How do you explain this to an electorate that might see it as a betrayal of the mandate?Nitish Kumar ji campaigned tremendously for this election. The government was formed under his leadership. Sometimes, it is up to the individual to decide the timing of their ‘call.’ As in cricket, the player chooses when to exit. No one can force Nitish Kumar ji to do anything; it was his own call. He felt the ‘next generation should take over.’ In personal conversations, he sometimes mentioned that he has served in all Houses and might want to just be in one House if the opportunity arose. He took this call himself. But leaving the CM’s post doesn’t mean that there will be a change in the ideology with which he ran the government for 20 years. His people are ministers in equal numbers — 16 from BJP and JD(U) each, with two Deputy CMs. The government is working according to the 2025 manifesto, which was perhaps the first of its kind in the NDA.
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