The Sun Sets On Nitish Kumar

Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has brought shame to himself and his party. He has transgressed the hip-hop-hip of Indian politics and taken it to another level altogether. And has done so with a brazen face, an aggressive defence as mounted by his party loyals like K.C.Tyagi and a “I don’t give a damn” demeanour. That he is being showered with ridicule on the social media and perhaps even the streets of Bihar and other parts of the country seems to make no difference, as he justifies his decision to desert the Opposition bloc yet again and move to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the process Kumar has taken oath as Bihar Chief Minister nine times.

The socialists left behind by Jayaprakash Narayan and Rammanohar Lohia in the Hindi heartland have followed the vagaries of time. They are a motley bunch, whose term in office has been tumultuous to say the least. But Nitish Kumar has bagged the crown. His political trajectory has been almost schizophrenic in nature, moving from supporting the BJP to bitterly opposing it from the ramparts. This time around when he decided to join the Opposition block he declared that he would never rejoin the BJP again, there was no question of it, “mitti mein mil jaoonga par BJP mein nahin jaoonga” is the line that was quoted then in 2002 and is being quoted now in 2024.

Kumar led the Opposition to firm the alliance and played a key role in the emergence of the I.N.D.I.A block that Congress party leaders like Jairam Ramesh have been publicly saying. After the third meeting he fell silent, but even so no one in the Opposition could imagine that he would break the silence with the decision to join the BJP. As many pointed out, there is a limit to even the more established ‘aaya ram’s and gaya ram’s’ in politics and everyone thought that even Nitish Kumar had called it a day with his last shift as chief minister.

This time around even the gaga media is finding it difficult to shower the JD-U with accolades and while there is sufficient glee about the setback for the Opposition, there is little by way of praise for Kumar. His defence sounds lame, with KC Tyagi reading out a statement about the Congress party trying to take over the Opposition. This has not reverberated in the Opposition ranks with the regional leaders not bothering to hide their surprise and shock over his behaviour.

Worst hit is his Bihar ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal but under Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tutelage, Tejaswi Yadav has taken the bull by the horns. He read the writing on the wall even before the final announcement by Kumar, and has since made it apparent that all the state government achieved was because of the RJD pressure and directions. And has made it clear, as have his colleagues, that Nitish Kumar’s exit will help strengthen and not weaken the Opposition. Unlike Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, Tejaswi is a fighter and says it as he sees it.

Having said this, it is a body blow to I.N.D.I.A that was deep in talks over seats and strategy. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has not helped matters much either with her outburst, but in this case it is more to do with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and his constant barbs against the TMC. The Congress party has probably agreed to restrain him as is necessary for the alliance to survive and relations seem to be back on an even keel, or almost. All parties in the alliance have to learn to accommodate each other, and the Congress party will have to accept the domination of the regional partners in the respective states for at least this election.

All in all the one certainty is the end of Nitish Kumar as a respected politician. He has now been left rudderless and even if he does not realise it, he will soon. The BJP will gain in the general elections obviously as it has cracked the coalition without getting any of the blame. And will now use Nitish Kumar to serve its ends further in Bihar. The RJD will in all probability retain its support base. And the Congress party will have to learn that it cannot take regional players for granted, and if it is serious about the forthcoming elections it will have to pander to ego’s and aspirations that have clearly not faded with age.

Cover File Phtoograph