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Nitish Kumar plays his cards deftly, lays down contours of Bihar politics
The Bihar CM’s meeting with leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav twice in the Assembly has added spice to various political theories doing the rounds, while the RJD leader too, with his somewhat mellowed approach, tried not to refute anything.
The workers’ meet of the JD-U at Gandhi Maidan in Patna in the midst of the ongoing Budget session of the Bihar legislature is set to hot up politics in the state, for it has clearly laid down the contours of alliance.
It came on the heels of the JD-U national president and chief minister Nitish Kumar’s recent posturing in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, which flummoxed the Opposition RJD as well as a section of the ally BJP alike as they found themselves on the same page against NRC-NPR and in favour of caste-based census. At the 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Odisha, Kumar also reiterated the demand of special status for Bihar.
Kumar’s meeting with leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav twice in the Assembly also added spice to various political theories doing the rounds, while the RJD leader too, with his somewhat mellowed approach, tried not to refute anything. On Sunday, the birthday of Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi also greeted him and addressed him as ‘Abhivavak’.
However, Kumar’s clear assertion on Sunday that not much should be read into his meeting with Tejashwi and that the NDA would win over 200 seats in the Assembly elections is an attempt to put a lid on any more conjectures, but not before snatching the two contentious issues of NRC and caste-based census from the fragmented Opposition. Only a couple of days ago, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi also termed Nitish as the most capable candidate for the CM post.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said that he was not surprised. “We have always maintained Nitish Kumar has mastered the craft of doublespeak. While under pressure from the movement all over Bihar as well as Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, he agreed for a resolution on NRC-NPR and caste-based census, though his politics and personal do not appear committed to those causes. His only ideology is to retain power. At the end of the day, he will be remembered as a politician with no credibility whatsoever,” he added.
Though BJP has all along been confident that the alliance was strong and in favour of all the three partners, as demonstrated during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when NDA bagged 39 of the 40 seats, some of the leaders within the party admit that Nitish could be playing his cards well to demonstrate his undisputed position in Bihar politics, which is a reality.
JD-U spokesman and Bihar information and public relations minister Neeraj Kumar said, “It is a clear reminder to Doubting Thomases that Nitish Kumar cannot be ignored in Bihar, as he is the voice of the masses who have started relishing positive change. It was a workers’ meet to acquaint them with CM’s line of thinking, not a rally as some try to project it,” he added.
He said that during the 2015-19 period, there has been significant growth in the JD-U vote share and it would show further improvement in 2020 to silence those who said that “JD-U has leader, but not enough organisational strength”. “Between 2015 and 2019, there has been a phenomenal 39% increase in JD-U vote share,” he added.
However, Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said that the poor attendance at the JD-U workers’ meet had exposed the parties organisational setup. “Against the claim of two-three lakh workers coming to Patna, it was less than 10% of their own claim,” he added
BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand was also quick to say that a united NDA would once again repeat its 2019 Lok Sabha performance and sweep 2020 assembly polls under Nitish Kumar. “BJP is committed to the agenda of national building and it does not need teaching from parties that play politics of caste and Muslim appeasement. They (opposition) tried to create rumour to hide the fight among Grand Alliance partners,” he added.
