The political development in Bihar is a perfect recipe for a good Bollywood thriller. Prakash Jha should have keenly watched the developments, albeit not writing the end of the script, rather starting a new beginning. In fact, this is the start of a new political journey for the “Sushasan Purush” Nitish Kumar.
What lies ahead?
#Nobandhan in #mahagathbandhan made Nitish Kumar make up his mind, especially post meeting Rahul Gandhi.
The six-time “chatur” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar knows it is not just about Bihar, but representing the Bihari aspirations at the larger stage. This move is not to return to Bihar, but move to Delhi sooner rather than later. This will either happen in the proposed Cabinet reshuffle in 3rd week of August 2017, or post 2019 (if of course NDA comes back to power) where Nitish Kumar will preside as one of the top 4 Ministers in the Modi Government. This will vacate the Chief Minister’s seat for his political colleague and the long time waiting Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi to preside over as the Chief Minister of Bihar, with another senior JDU leader as the deputy Chief Minister.
Yes, it is Ghar Vapsi for “Sushasan Babu” who has been a minister in erstwhile NDA In 1998-1999, 2001-2004. As the case of the Yadav Limited Company, the bad debts have piled up, family is not able to escape the NPCA (Non Performing Corrupt Act), and jail vapsi is around the corner.
Why is Rahul Gandhi yet again wrong?
Rahul Gandhi has accused Nitish Kumar, akka “Munna” of cheating the people:
बिहार ने नितीशजी को anti communal लड़ाई लड़ने के लिए mandate दी, लेकिन नितीशजी अपनी personal politics के लिए उन्हीं लोगों से गले लग गए
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 27, 2017
अपने स्वार्थ के लिए आदमी कुछ भी कर जाता है- कोई नियम नहीं है, कोई credibility नहीं है, सत्ता के लिए कुछ भी कर देते हैं
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 27, 2017
However, what Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi fails to accept and point is that the inability of his leadership has led every possible non-Congress opposition party to drift away from them. Losing an election is natural in a political democracy, albeit loosing the intent to regroup is worrisome.
I have been pointing in the past two years that the failure of Congress to provide a fresh pro-India narrative is moving it in a state of oblivion. Mind you, BJP led NDA despite losing many elections in the past, had a focused , energetic self- confident organizational strength which always worked to engage and motivate the cadre, unlike Congress which only has a “family cadre”. If I may ask you what is the ideology of the Congress? I am sure you will either google, or will not have any specific answers. The hard truth is that they have none. Pre-Independence Congress was a political movement to fight for India’s independence from a colonial rule. Compare this with BJP, which has a defined ideology, backed by a very strong voluntary social service cadre strength of the RSS. You can judge the ideology, but at least you have an ideology.
This tweet of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi displays that Congress has not moved an inch forward, except for supporting few orchestrated social media campaigns on intolerance.
Why accusations on Nitish Kumar do not hold the litmus test?
While analyzing Nitish Kumar, I always consider him as a player who bats on the front foot, and can hardly remain on backfoot. Emerging out of the J.P. Movement and learning his craft from J.P himself, Nitish is a man of principles. He resigned on 2nd August 1999 after Gaisal train disaster, on 17th May 2014 to accept personal defeat for the loss of 2014. Jayaprakash Narayan used to say- ” Politics is ultimately about human happiness”, and the electorate of Bihar wanted Nitish to listen to his conscience and leave the “ghotalon ka sardar Lalu Yadav Family Company”.
Some analysts are asking -“where was his conscience in 2015?”. As I said in the start of the article- Nitish Kumar always likes to play on the front foot, not on the backfoot. He was buying his time, and experimenting in the hope that post being in the government, RJD will let him govern, alas he had unworkable relationship which had divorce as a logical outcome. Also, let us admit he had political ambitions of contesting in 2019, which he realized were more distant, particularly seeing the growing stature and strength of PM Narendra Modi with time.
The state of disarray in #mahagathbandhan which had #nobandhan made Nitish Kumar make up his mind, especially post meeting Rahul Gandhi.
Hence Nitish Kumar, like in the past played well in this political innings; yet again.
Story by Pradip Bhandari, Founder and CEO of Jan Ki Baat
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