NITISH KUMAR: In Alliance always!

It was mid 2023, and the atmosphere of the country was politically charged up. Four states were to undergo State Assembly elections soon. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana were the states and a hopeful Congress campaigning with the only aim of defeating the BJP was surveying and, trying to bring opposition on one platform.

Buoyed by the recent success of Congress party in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the political parties in opposition were hopeful too. Barring South India , Northern India presented a bleak picture for the opposition. So, the non BJP government in Bihar has become a successful example of coalition politics against BJP and pushed the ruling pair of CM Nitish Kumar and DCM Tehashwi Yadav in limelight.

Particularly, Bihar’s chief minister and president of Janata Dal (United), Nitish Kumar, was leaving no stone upturned in achieving the coalition. He is now a veteran political figure, and, successful too! being in politics since the 1980s and chief minister of a state for more than 15 years.

Only NCP Chief and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, and an ailing Sonia were the other leaders of national status were now in the opposition. Sharad Pawar’s NCP was split, Mamata Banerjee was unsuccessful in elections of other states and, with a struggling Congress, Bihar was the only choice, with its history to change the course of national politics as seen time to time.

Nitish Kumar, at the helm of Bihar’s politics, matched BJP and RJD move to move and checkmate the BJP, whom he accused of trying to weaken his hold, by breaking alliance and forging new ties with Lalu’s RJD is a telling story of murky politics of Bihar. Across the country, there was a growing atmosphere of unease & apprhension in the politicians of opposition political parties.

The elected representatives of people were  frustrated, angry, and helpless and were afraid of  an unleashed ED searching for corruption, money laundering, and unaccounted wealth by illegal means that was literally at their home. They were waiting anxiously to find any worthy heavy weight to stop BJP winning the approaching Loksabha elections. The only hope was a strong, united political opposition to end the endlessly stretching BJP rule. There was a void at the national level. An absence of a politically shrewd, clean, and experienced politician who can bring the opposition parties together to work out a common agenda and avoid splitting votes

Aware of this scene, party workers of JD-U had already started to project their president and chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar as ‘Prime ministerial face’ and leader for 2024 Loksabha elections.

Nitish Kumar’s speech at the the rally organized by the Communist Party of India on 2nd of November was blunt and straight to the point, like the theme of the rally – ‘BJP HATAO, DESH BACHAO’ ( Do away with BJP and save the country) and it was taking place in Patana – the capital city of Bihar State.

A charged up Nitish Kumar, begin with recalling his past association when CPI M and CPI helped him win his first election in the 1980s. He further praised by saying that in Bihar, we used to admire the Left for its progressive outlook. Its rallies used to be attended by a substantial number of women in times when this was not a common sight.

He blamed Congress ,”We all are working together to strengthen the Congress party, but it seems that they are not focused on these matters at the moment. There isn’t much progress in the opposition alliance right now.

And then attacked BJP and said that all opposition parties are united to safeguard the country and its constitution from those in power who were determined to rewrite history. ” We must unite to defeat them.” They consistently seek to create turmoil in the name of Hindu-Muslim issues and have no genuine commitment to development or employment.

Cut to 2008, famous poll strategist Prashant Kishor just joined Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JD – U) party and soon reached the coveted post of Vice President to get expelled unceremoniously after criticizing his own party backing BJP’s CAA – Citizens Amendment Act. Does it mean that Nitish Kumar is pro BJP?

It’s not easy to term his politics opportunistic owing to his political upbringing in socialism at none other than Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan’s famous ‘total revolution ‘agitation of 1974, which culminated into bringing down the Indira Gandhi government in 1977. He was detained and imprisoned twice under MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) and in the ‘Emergency’ imposed by late Smt Indira Gandhi.

Nitish Kumar is well educated B.Sc. (Engineering). Born in 1951, he became a Janata Dal member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1985, and his political journey started. He rarely stayed away from the corridors of power after his ministerial berth when he made Union Minister of Agriculture and Co-operation in 1990.

Being in Bihar, his earlier political life was spent watching and working with George Fernandes and Lalu Prasad Yadav, both champions of their own principles and their style of working. With George Fernandes, he co- founded the ‘Samata Party’ in 1994.

His first success occurred in 1996 when he joined the BJP of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. From 1998, he adorned Union ministership for portfolios like Agriculture, Railways, and Surface Transport to soon test chief ministership of Bihar in the year 2000, though for a short! Since then, Bihar Ministry’s Minister’s and coalition political parties only changed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remain unchanged. It’s an accomplishment to stay at the helm of political affairs and retain the highest post of a political state like Bihar.

So when the drums of elections were sounded and the opposition started to wonder who would come forward to unite, Nitish Kumarji stepped forward in the self-proclaimed  role of National Convenor and started touring across the country with his deputy chief minister. Assured of getting due credit and suggestion of his name as leader of the opposition and a consensus candidate for Prime Minister post,  he met different party leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Udhav Thackeray,  M K Stalin and many more.

However, as usual, it was soon apparent that there were other aspirants too dreaming of leading the country besides him. They opposed him. His ambiguous past of stitching convenient alliances with  any leading political party to stay in power made him unreliable. DIifferences started to crop up while naming the opposite front as INDIA and what it stands for. His objections were overruled, his appointment as a convenor opposed by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, and it was all over when Congress president Malikarjun Kharage bagged prime ministerial candidature.

There is nothing wrong. Being ambitious and in politics more or less in public life, you serve the interests of people. So there is nothing wrong with looking at higher power wielding responsibilities for the welfare of more people. But if you don’t have a national presence, then the path becomes difficult. His approach is closer to BJP as he is with the BJP for so many years, and perhaps he is the one who can tackle their calls for a better administration and development. But if one looks at party to party strength in the Bihar Assembly, then one can sense the hidden insecurities.

78 BJP members, 45 JD(U), 4 HAM(S),1 Independent- Total-128

Opposition- 79 RJD, 19 Congress, 16 Left 1 AIMIM – Total-115.

SO NOW THE NEW RULING BJP+ JD U+others- 128 AND OPPOSITION OF RJD+ CONGRESS+ others – 115. Narrow margins indeed! A 122 seats is the mark required to form the government. That’s why the former Depury of Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, is saying that it is anybody’s game and anything is possible in the imminent future.

And why even the bigwig of BJP like Home Minister Amit Shah has to eat his own words after saying that the doors of the BJP are closed forever for Nitish Kumar when he ditched the BJP to go with RJD. The doors opened again to form the alliance to continue him as a Chief Minister! As per Indian Express, Nitish Kumar’s strength lies in his governance and development agenda. Under his leadership, Bihar has witnessed significant improvements in sectors like education, health care, and infrastructure.

‘Somersaults specialist’, ‘Paltumaar’ were the selectives used to describe his sudden turns in the politics, but this maneuvering ability and his skills keep him afloat in the caste ridden politics of Bihar. It’s noteworthy here that Nitish Kumar is of OBC Kurmi caste, which is only 3% of the population. Considering the impact of Ram Mandir by BJP in Bihar, the approaching elections are a tough game for RJD and Congress. The RJD- Nitish alliance, unbroken and faced elections together, Nitish Kumar’s unhindered record of being chief minister of Bihar might be in jeopardy.

Rahul Gandhi says we, allies, pressurized Nitish Kumar to publish Caste report for the first time in India. May be BJP is also planning to execute its policies like Uniform Civil Code utilizing his deft administration and politics of alliances.