Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is making the most of his new-found bonhomie with the Congress, but detractors feel this same closeness may prove to be his undoing.
Nitish had extended an invite for one-to-one talks to both Left parties, which was rejected. He extended this invitation to both parties towards the end of August to discuss about a “secular” front at a time the CPI(M) had announced its plan to hold a secular convention in the first week of October. But CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat is learnt to have outrightly rejected his invitation as he does not want to have any alliance at this point of time with someone who is closely linked to the Congress.
According to senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, who advocates better relations with the Congress, was keen on the meeting. “But Karat put his foot down and said if Nitish is that keen on a secular front he can come and join the secular convention organized by the party,” said the leader. Similarly, CPI, which recently made it clear that its current alliance with the JD(U) Government is “transient” also refused the invitation.
“Actually Nitish is heading for a tough terrain if the signals from the ground are correct. Congress need not hold him on the same pedestal for long. Nitish also knows it too well and that’s why he is making most out of the Congress Government while the sun is shining,” said a senior Left leader pointing at the concessions he is demanding from the UPA Government.
Nitish’s severing of ties with the BJP, on the issue of Narendra Modi’s projection as prime ministerial candidate, has not translated into any tangible gain. BJP, in fact, feels that it will have the last laugh as Nitish is now trapped in an image he created for himself by opposing Modi, compromising on his long-standing anti-Congress politics.
After Modi addresses Hunkaar rally in Patna on October 27, says BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, “there will be a huge groundswell for us.” Nitish’s fumbling response to two grim tragedies: the midday meal deaths, and the Bodh Gaya blast, has further dented his image as an able administrator. Even when Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal was arrested, curiously, the Bihar police refused to interrogate him, over-playing of the minority card, and the BJP is convinced this will boomerang on the Bihar CM and help BJP consolidate its upper-caste Hindu vote-bank. “The Janata Dal (United) does not have a dedicated cadre like the BJP. We have been working in all the 40 constituencies right up to the booth level to get support (the same had worked in Nitish’s favour earlier), unlike Nitish’s party workers who tend to go with the flow,” Rudy said.
The BJP snides that the Congress is happy paying token attention to Bihar CM and would like to keep Nitish along Lalu Prasad Yadav in the same stable as other anti-Modi leaders. Instead of giving any monetary help to the state, the UPA government gave the Bihar CM another platform, they point out.