All eyes on Nitish Kumar as political storm brews in Bihar

All eyes were trained on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday with the JDU president appearing to be inching towards his second political volte face in less than 18 monthsFor Kumar who has maintained a deafening silence over the turmoil in the Mahagathbandhan ignoring pleas from allies RJD Congress and the Left to clear the air about the intense political speculation on his future step it was business as usualThe longestserving CM began the day by flagging off a number of new fire brigade engines at the citys veterinary college ground which saw him address a mammoth party rally earlier this weekHe followed it up with a visit to Buxar for inauguration of a beautification project of a renowned temple a project of the tourism department that is held by his deputy Tejashwi Yadav who remained conspicuous by his absenceThe attendees included senior BJP leader and Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey who is the local MPChoubey declined to comment on the ongoing upheavalBJP state incharge Vinod Tawde who is in Patna to attend a meeting also kept cards close to the chest but blamed the Congress for the imminent iquestbreak upiquest ofNitish Kumar with the opposition INDIA bloc of which he was seen as the veritable architectMeanwhile Janata Dal Uniteds political adviser and spokesperson K C Tyagi told reporters in Delhi that the grand alliance government in Bihar is on the verge of collapse and accused a section of the Congress leadership of repeatedly insulting KumarThe INDIA bloc is on the verge of collapse The alliance of INDIA bloc parties is almost over in Punjab West Bengal and Bihar he saidUpon Kumars return to Patna top leaders of the JDU began pouring in at the official residence of the party president who is expected to put in his papers as chief minister and stake claim for the formation of a new government armed with the BJPs supportLeaders of the RJD also gathered at the residence of national vicepresident and former chief minister Rabri Devi who shares her government bungalow with Tejashwi Yadav her son and husband Lalu Prasad who is the party presidentAll party leaders were made to deposit their mobile phones outside the gates of 10 Circular Road the house situated at a stones throw from the chief ministers residenceSources claiming to be in the know of things said the deliberations were about the course of action to be followed in the event of Kumar calling off the allianceWhile some RJD leaders are said to be in favour of staking claim to form the new government hoping to cobbleup support of eight MLAs theMahagathbandhan requires to go past the majority mark others including Tejashwi Yadav appear to be not impressed with the idea since the JDU and the BJP together have more than 122 members in the 243strong assemblyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever