Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar romancing the Congress may end his love affair with the BJP. But this new love is no more a story but the moot question is why he is so desperate when the Congress party has hardly given any indication to warmly accommodate him under its fold. Sources in the Congress say Nitish can’t be trusted. How can they depend on a leader who is willing to ditch the BJP—his decade-old senior partner—when he feels relations between both are strained? Earlier too, Nitish parted ways with Lalu and formed the Samata Party. The gainer of this triangular game being played in the state may be Lalu Prasad Yadav who is waiting and watching in the wings. If recent gathering in the meetings of Lalu is any indication, then Lalu’s strong political presence can’t be ignored.
The political signal coming from Nitish in the last few months indicate that he is trying to sail on two boats—Congress and BJP—at the same time. His shifting statements to keep both the major political parties in good humour may end with a backlash. At the same time, Congress camp feels that Lalu is more dependable and his track record for the last couple of years shows that he is more committed than other allies to the Congress.
It is a known fact that despite poor governance Lalu ruled this politically vibrant state for 15 long years with the help of his social MY combination (Muslim and Yadav). They constitute about 27 per cent votes in the state. So, the shift of Muslim votes that constitutes about 16 per cent and their consolidation can change the whole political equation.
Nitish’s new political strategy to oppose Narendra Modi and hinting he would ditch the NDA anytime over the Gujarat chief minister is also meant to check the old social alignment of Lalu with Muslims, and keep his minority flock in his pocket. Nitish is trying his best to sweep the issues of malgovernance and corruption under the carpet with the help of captive media.
Being a shrewd seasoned politician, Lalu knows his limitations; he also knows the art of handling the levers of the power equations. He has hardly missed any occasion to profess his loyalty to the Congress, and Sonia Gandhi in particular. Recently, he took the opportunity in Parliament to defend Manmohan Singh and his government on the issue of the CAG report on the allocation of coal blocks. Though he is not a part of the government but only supports it from the outside, he also denounced Baba Ramdev strongly.
In a given political situation, Lalu doesn’t have any other alternative but to support the UPA. He can’t think of joining NDA whereas Nitish can move in any direction. Recently he took altogether different positions in Presidential and Vice Presidential election.
Now, as political churning is going on in Bihar, the situation is that the two socialist political stalwarts are being used as pawns in a game played by the Congress party.
-Sunday Standard