Political parties were huddled in hectic parleys a day before chief minister Nitish Kumar’s expected return to the BJP’s arms, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal indicating a desire to push back against the likely formation of an NDA government in Bihar.

The Congress too was in the spotlight amid suggestions of a possible split in its Bihar unit.

Nitish appeared calm amid speculation about when he might resign and take the oath as chief minister again, with Raj Bhavan sources indicating this could happen late on Sunday afternoon.

“All our party legislators have been asked to assemble at the chief minister’s residence at 10am on Sunday. All further action will be taken after that,” Janata Dal United MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Telegraph.

After this meeting, the NDA legislature party, including the MLAs of constituents BJP and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS), too will gather at Nitish’s residence for a combined meeting with their JDU counterparts, sources said.

Armed with the signatures of all the MLAs of these parties, Nitish will visit Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation and stake claim to form a new government, the sources added.

Senior BJP leaders, including party president J.P. Nadda, are expected at the swearing-in.

Huge posters and banners with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar are being prepared, to be put up along Patna’s major roads by Sunday morning.

Nitish travelled to Buxar on Saturday to inaugurate the first phase of the development and renovation of the Baba Brahmeshwar Sthan Temple and lay the foundation stone for the second phase.

He prayed alongside Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who happens to be the Buxar MP, offering photo ops that highlighted his proximity to the BJP.

JDU spokesperson Neeraj hit out at the RJD, saying its leadership had become frustrated with Nitish at its inability to make money over the recent recruitment of over 2.2 lakh teachers.

RJD summons

The RJD’s aggression was somewhat muted following a local court’s directive on Saturday in the railway land-for-jobs case in which party chief Lalu Prasad, his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other family members are accused.

Judge Vishal Gogne took cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet and issued summons to former chief minister Rabri Devi, daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and other accused, asking them to appear before the court on February 9.

RJD legislators met at Tejashwi’s Patna residence to discuss their future course in view of the impending somersault by Nitish.

Speaking at the meeting, Lalu asked the ministers, MLAs and MLCs not to resign but to stay united and prepared in Patna over the next few days, and follow the instructions of the party leadership.

Tejashwi asserted that more “khela” (game) awaited Bihar politics.

He said he had always respected Nitish, to the extent of desisting from interjecting when the chief minister habitually asked at his public meetings “what was there in Bihar before 2005” (the year he became chief minister).

The RJD leadership has decided to not resign from the government and to allow Nitish to take the next step. The plan is to project the breakup as a betrayal and try to garner public sympathy while projecting the development and employment achieved on the Grand Alliance government’s watch.

“Our party leaders have authorised Lalu Prasadji to take any further decision, which will come in a day or two,” RJD Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha said.

The Congress called a meeting of its legislators at Purnea, around 320km northeast of Patna, to keep its flock together amid speculation of an impending split and also because Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra would enter Bihar (at Kishanganj) on Monday.

Sources said that some 13 Congress legislators were yet to reach Purnea. Bihar unit president Akhilesh Prasad Singh did not take calls from this newspaper.

Bihar Congress legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan told this newspaper: “Our party is rock solid. All the legislators will attend the meeting, scheduled at 2pm on Sunday in Purnea. We stand completely united against the BJP and its policies.”

Senior Congress leader and former MLA Harkhu Jha echoed him.

HAMS leader Jitan Ram Manjhi too called his party’s four MLAs to a meeting and declared that he and his colleagues were “with Prime Minister Modi and the BJP in all circumstances”.

BJP legislators, including MPs and other senior leaders, met at the state party headquarters to discuss the expected government formationand the new political alignment decided by their high command.