Yesterday once more: Nitish pulls a Nitish in Bihar

India

oi-Smita Mishra

Coming
close
on
the
heels
of
Maharashtra,
the
Bihar
coup
may
be
a
morale
booster
for
the
opposition
but
for
the
BJP
it
is
better
now
than
later

Nitish
Kumar
has
done
it
again.
Without
the
usual
series
of
meetings,
ferrying
of
MLAs
to
resorts
or
camera
friendly
parades
in
Raj
Bhawans,
he
simply
walked
across
the
street
(to
the
Yadav
residence)
and
switched
his
alliance
from
one
partner
to
the
other.
As
simple
as
that!

Even
before
political
pundits
could
gauge
the
implications
of
the
move,
he
had
already
tendered
his
resignation
and
taken
oath
as
Chief
Minister
again
in
less
than
twenty
hours.
It
may
sound
fantastic
but
those
who
are
familiar
with
Nitish
Kumar
the
politician
are
not
surprised.
Nor
are
they
sure
if
this
is
the
last
time.

For
Biharis,
having
Nitish
Kumar
as
CM,
no
matter
in
alliance
with
whom,
has
become
par
for
the
course.
From
Patna’s
‘ground
zero’ analysts
to
op-ed
writers
of
Lutyen’s
Delhi,
there
is
no
dearth
of
commentators
who
will
claim
how
they
had
known
all
along
that
this
was
coming.
But
the
fact
remains
that
when
it
actually
happened,
nobody
knew
until
it
did.
Yet
even
for
the
ardent
admirers
of
Nitish,
the
constant
U-turns
are
becoming
a
tad
boring.
The
discomfort
and
irritation
of
JDU’s
spokespersons
in
trying
to
justify
the
frequent
Paltu
Ram
jibes
is
too
palpable
to
be
ignored.

Nitish
Kumar,
the
8th
time
Bihar
CM
in
22
years
|
A
look
at
‘sushasan
babu’’s
turns
and
u-turns
so
far

Morale
Booster
for
Opposition

From
the
national
perspective,
Nitish
Kumar
has
certainly
given
the
opposition
ranks
some
reason
to
cheer.
Coming
close
on
the
heels
of
the
Maharashtra
setback,
the
Bihar
coup
is
a
well
timed
morale
booster
for
Modi
baiters.
The
opposition’s
total
disarray
in
the
President
and
Vice
President
elections
raised
serious
questions
about
the
anti-Modi
camp’s
ability
to
take
on
the
BJP
juggernaut.

Those
questions
have
not
dissipated
just
because
Nitish
Kumar
is
now
with
the
Mahagathbandhan.
But
at
least
the
opposition
now
has
a
narrative
to
argue.

Enter
Nitish
Kumar
the
PM
Hopeful

Besides
getting
a
state
soon
after
the
loss
of
Maharashtra,
the
opposition
may
now
start
pinning
its
hopes
on
Nitish
Kumar
as
a
possible
challenger
to
Narendra
Modi.
As
Rahul
Gandhi
continues
to
disappoint
and
Mamata
Bannerjee
and
Arvind
Kejriwal
refuse
to
conduct
themselves
in
a
manner
that
can
inspire
a
united
fight,
Nitish
Kumar
is
the
new
horse
in
the
race.
When
asked
about
this
immediately
after
taking
oath
for
the
eighth
time,
Kumar
did
not
quite
deny
his
prime
ministerial
ambitions.
He
rather
seemed
to
be
enjoying
the
speculation.
It
gave
a
sense
of
déjà
vue
as
Nitish
Kumar
was
similarly
hailed
as
the
challenger
after
his
victory
in
2015
Bihar
assembly
elections
too.

Not
Nitish,
Tejashwi
Yadav
most-preferred
choice
for
CM
post:
C-Voter
survey

For
BJP,
Better
Now
Than
Later

Since
every
small
and
big
incident
was
becoming
an
irritant
and
a
cause
of
frequent
bickering
between
the
BJP
and
the
JDU,
the
trust
deficit
was
at
a
break
point.
The
final
trigger
could
have
been
Nitish’s
growing
insecurity
following
the
Maharashtra
developments
or
the
tension
over
RCP
Singh
or
both.
But
if
the
alliance
was
indeed
doomed,
it
is
best
for
the
BJP
that
it
happened
now
rather
than
later.

At
least
it
gives
the
party
sufficient
time
to
go
back
to
the
drawing
board
and
rework
its
caste
calculations
as
well
as
its
political
narrative.
One
thing
is
certain.
Simply
cursing
Nitish
Kumar
as
a
traitor
will
not
take
the
party
too
far.
As
was
evident
in
2015,
the
moment
JDU
and
RJD
come
together
(forget
Congress
and
others),
the
caste
umbrella
gets
too
wide
compared
to
the
BJP’s
core
vote
base.
In
Bihar,
where
social
engineering,
welfarism
and
empowerment
are
intertwined
with
caste-based
empowerment,
this
becomes
a
huge
challenge.

The
only
way
BJP
can
counter
the
wide
MGB
caste
umbrella
is
by
making
a
serious
dent
into
the
Mahadalit
and
Extremely
Backward
Caste
bracket.
Most
of
these
castes
are
used
to
identifying
the
social
welfare
benefits
with
the
face
of
Nitish
Kumar.
But
they
are
also
wary
of
the
dominant
Yadavs.
The
BJP
will
have
to
coin
new
slogans
and
weave
a
new
narrative
where
the
campaign
against
Nitish
Kumar’s
‘betrayal’ must
run
parallel
with
the
BJP’s
vision
of
ushering
in
a
new
age
Bihar
which
can
compete
with
the
growth
oriented
states
of
western
India.
It
will
also
have
to
blunt
Nitish
Kumar’s
clever
strategy
of
laying
all
the
blame
over
employment
and
jobs
on
the
BJP
even
though
it
was
he
who
headed
the
government
as
chief
minister.

(Smita
Mishra
writes
on
politics
and
current
affairs)

Disclaimer:
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opinions
expressed
in
this
article
are
the
personal
opinions
of
the
author.
The
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in
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article
do
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