New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday overtook ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but it was the BJP that had prepared the ground for it 20 months ago – on 11 November 2020 – a day after the results of the assembly elections were announced.
That evening Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all the BJP leaders had gathered at the decorated BJP headquarters in Delhi. ‘thank you’ event after bihar election result
The grand scale of the celebrations seemed incompatible with the electoral achievement. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) barely secured a majority – 125 seats in the 243-member assembly – and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) suffered a setback, down from 71 in the 2015 elections, winning only 43 seats.
He would also have to mock smaller allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahni, whose parties got only 4 seats, but the government would be in a minority if either of them walked out. Also, there will be no BJP CM.
So, what was this grand celebration about? The message did not go to Nitish Kumar. It is said that he was depressed in Patna as celebrations were taking place at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. The BJP, which secured 74 seats – up to 21 since 2015 – was clearly celebrating its emergence as the ‘big brother’ in its alliance with the JD(U), ever since they formed the government together in 2005. Was.
JD(U) leaders told ThePrint that Nitish Kumar was badly hurt by the way the BJP had “engineered” the JD(U)’s “fall”. The BJP denied this, but Kumar was told convinced that Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chirag Paswan was PM Modi’s ‘Hanuman’ who was sent to bulldoze the JD(U) house.
Chirag’s LJP won only 1 seat but played a key role in it to defeat JD(U) candidates on 25 seats. He did not field a candidate against the BJP.
No wonder, the joke in political circles was that it was a “thank you-chirag” event at the BJP headquarters.
If there was any scope for the benefit of the doubt about Hanuman’s Ram, it ended with the BJP’s grand celebrations, a sign that the party is happy with Nitish Kumar’s loss of face and political weight in Bihar.
Kumar later reunited with Chirag, playing a key role in splitting the LJP and the Paswan family. It will take 16 months for Kumar to match the BJP after the elections. Pitting Chirag Paswan against Kumar was a gamble that paid off for the BJP in the 2020 elections but proved counter-productive in the long run.
Read also: Why Nitish Kumar’s move out of ‘under-renovation’ CM residence has become the talk of the town
gamble or gamble
Continuing with its strategy to corner Nitish Kumar, the BJP decided to replace Sushil Kumar Modi, who was Nitish Kumar’s deputy during his chief ministership from 2005. The two had a very good rapport and this ensured a smooth relationship between the two allies. running the government.
Sushil Modi was left out of Kumar’s new cabinet and was replaced by two deputy CMs – relatively politically mild. Modi was brought to the Rajya Sabha but was not included in the Union Cabinet, a move that was seen as a punishment for his closeness with Nitish Kumar.
The third gamble or mistake that the BJP high command played in Bihar was to make Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan the leader of the party. interlocutor Along with Nitish Kumar, the role played by Arun Jaitley until his death three years ago.
JD(U) leaders close to Nitish Kumar believe that Pradhan was never picked for the role, even though he is a confidant of Shah. Pradhan meets Kumar Patna in May But the BJP failed to address his concerns about the leaders constantly taking a dig at his government.
Nitish Kumar’s tussle with BJP leaders including Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha continued. The BJP badly missed Arun Jaitley in his handling of Nitish Kumar, especially as the party was trying to consolidate and expand in Bihar. Tension was rising between the two allies and there was no one to quell the apprehensions and apprehensions between the two, especially Nitish Kumar.
Amid these tensions, JD(U) leaders say Kumar’s suspicion that the BJP is dating its former confidante RCP Singh became the last straw. A JD(U) minister told ThePrint that the CM had “substantial reasons” to believe that the BJP was using Singh, another Kurmi leader, to vilify the JD(U), which it used Eknath Shinde. He did it with Shiv Sena. in Maharashtra. “You’ll see the evidence soon,” he said.
Surprising thing is BJP high command decision To alert Nitish Kumar more ‘Migrant‘ of its leaders in all assembly constituencies – including those of the JD(U), apparently – on July 28-29.
It was like sniping at Kumar, provoking him to take on the BJP if he could. Why only Amit Shah and JP Nadda will know.
Read also: Will Nitish pull ‘Paltu Ram’ again? Why is the talk of BJP-JD(U) split gaining momentum in Bihar?