In a statement issued after core committee meeting at the state headquarters, the party announced that it will stage massive protests (mahadharnas) against the "betrayal' by the JD-U leader across all districts on Wednesday which will be followed by agitations at the block level a day later. 

Reacting furiously to the development, senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had served as Kumar's deputy for more than a decade and is considered as his most trusted man in the BJP, accused the former boss of telling "blatant lie'. 

"It is a blatant lie that BJP had made RCP Singh a minister without the consent of Nitish ji. Another lie is that the BJP was trying to split the JD-U. He was looking for an excuse to break ties. The BJP will return to power with a thumping majority in 2024," Modi tweeted. 

Notably, Kumar had cited a "unanimous sentiment' in his JD-U as the reason behind making the sudden move. 

His party's ties with the BJP, though dating back to the 1990s, barring a four years hiatus that began with his first breaking away in 2013, have been chequered. 

However, in the recent past the two parties squabbled on a whole range of issues though the tipping point, according to JD-U sources, came with alleged attempts of RCP Singh, a former national president who has for some time come to be seen as 'BJP's man', to split the party. -- PTI