JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar is expected to take oath as chief minister of Bihar with the backing of the BJP on Sunday (January 28).
According to media reports, as part of the alliance deal, the BJP will have two deputy chief minister berths. The assembly will not be dissolved and there will not be fresh elections, NDTV has reported.
Kumar has reportedly cancelled all his engagements planned for Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, on Friday, struck a conciliatory tone when he said doors are never permanently closed to anyone in politics. "As far as Kumar or the JD(U) are concerned, doors are never permanently closed in politics. Closed doors open when the time comes but whether they will open or not is for our central leadership to decide," Modi said.
After Kumar's JD(U) snapped his ties with the BJP in 2022, the saffron party maintained that its doors were permanently closed to Kumar. However, the BJP appears to have softened its stance in the wake of the attempts of the opposition to stitch a credible and united INDIA bloc.
According to news agency PTI, the BJP has been in touch with its Bihar allies, including Chirag Paswan and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, over the developments in the state. However, they have not been given a clear idea about the possibility of Kumar's return to their fold.
An ally said the BJP did not rule it out but has not been categorical either.
"It is clear to me that the ground is being prepared for Kumar's return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)," PTI quoted the ally as saying.
—With agency inputs