Rohini Acharya Slams Nitish Kumar, Calls Him ‘BJP’s Puppet’ Over Rajya Sabha Bid

Former RJD leader Rohini Acharya strongly criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after he announced that he would contest the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. She alleged that the JD(U) leader had been compelled by the BJP to take this step and said he was now paying the price for repeatedly betraying his political allies.

In a post on social media platform X, Acharya — daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav — said Nitish Kumar was responsible for the situation he currently finds himself in. She described him as a “puppet of the BJP” and said leaders who abandon their partners eventually face the consequences of their actions.

Acharya said Nitish Kumar’s political struggles were the result of his own decisions and criticised him for switching alliances multiple times. According to her, his move to contest the Rajya Sabha elections was not voluntary but the result of pressure from the BJP.

Calling him the “pinnacle of opportunism,” she said the developments were linked to Kumar’s decision to leave the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) and return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on January 28, 2024. She added that his desire to remain in power had turned him into a political tool in the hands of the BJP.

Acharya also claimed that several of Nitish Kumar’s former socialist colleagues had warned him about aligning with the BJP again, but he ignored their advice. She pointed to political developments in Maharashtra in 2022, when Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, suggesting that Kumar should have learned from how the BJP deals with its regional allies.

Her remarks come amid growing political tensions between the RJD and the ruling NDA in Bihar. Speculation is also increasing that the BJP may consider appointing its own Chief Minister in the state in the future.

In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP-led NDA won a sweeping victory, securing 202 out of 243 seats. The BJP emerged as the largest party with 89 seats, while Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) won 85 seats. Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister for a record tenth term, with BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha taking oath as Deputy Chief Ministers.

Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections and shared an emotional message addressing the people of Bihar. Reflecting on his long political career, he said the people of the state had trusted him for more than two decades and allowed him to serve Bihar with dedication.

He said that the support of the people had helped the state achieve significant progress and gain recognition across the country. Kumar also expressed gratitude to the voters for their continued faith in his leadership.

The Chief Minister said that since the start of his parliamentary career, he had hoped to serve in both Houses of Parliament as well as the Bihar Legislature. With that objective in mind, he decided to contest the Rajya Sabha elections.

Despite the move, Kumar emphasised that his connection with the people of Bihar would remain strong and that he would continue working toward the goal of building a developed state.