PATNA: Has Pavan K Varma’s outbursts against the JD-U brass got to do with the party not renominating him to the Rajya Sabha, or has he in-principle decided to end his political loyalty to party chief and CM Nitish Kumar: This is the question being discussed in Bihar’s political circles.
There are even talks that the former diplomat-turned-politician has become ‘over-ambitious’ and does not want to restrict himself as merely the JD-U national spokesperson. Varma worked closely with Nitish after being appointed as an advisor holding a Cabinet rank.
He was made Rajya Sabha MP from June 2014 to July 2016. But today, even top JD-U leaders are unable to explain what made Varma so vocal that he went on to seek ‘ideological clarity’ from Nitish.
On Wednesday, JD-U’s Bihar president Vashishtha Narayan Singh asserted that Varma had done nothing substantial for the party.
“What Varma writes or speaks is of no importance to the party.” Singh even said if some people don’t find themselves comfortable, they are free to make the next move. Political sources in the NDA claim Varma has always been ideologically out of sync when it comes to a majority of JD-U’s political ideologies.
“He was nominated MP but he started getting irritated and fault finding in the party after his tenure as MP ended in July 2016. His theories now stand in contrast to the party line or thought,” a senior NDA insider said.
As of now, JD-U has two lobbies though it will be never acknowledged in public. One lobby comprises of bureaucrats- turned-politicians such as RCP Singh, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh, Vashisatha Narayan Singh and others.
The second lobby comprises the likes of poll strategist Prashant Kishor, KC Tyagi, Pavan K Varma.
“In Parliament, RCP Singh and Lallan Singh had supported the Citizen (Amendment) Act and spoken in its favour. Kishor and Varma revolted against the party’s stance on supporting the CAA,” a source said.
Kishor’s recent thanksgiving tweet to top Congress leaders for coming out officially against the CAA is still being dissected.
And if sources are to be believed, changes of loyalty by some disgruntled leaders cannot be ruled out in the near future.
Sources said that the JD-U brass has now taken serious note of Varma’s letters and he may be served a notice.