What Nitish did to George Fernandes, R.C. P. Singh is destined to do to him.
VivekanandJha, Ranchi . Alas, Chirag Paswan should have known that he is no longer the son of the supremo of Lok Janshakti, but he himself is occupying thorns of a throne where his own skills and political sagacity will be tested in the laboratory of real politiking. Significantly, Chirag, in his supreme naivete brought about by inordinate sense of exuberance and an overwhelming fixation with Modi phenomenon, volunteered to don the mantle of Hanuman, without getting the approval of his Ram, Narendra Modi, when he had, in a spurt of an adolescent adoration for his Ram, failed to note that his purported icon was more a practitioner of real politiking, rather than following the glorious footsteps of Maryada Purushottam. No wonder his blind devotion for Modi, when he had claimed to pierce his own heart to show how his own Ram, Modi was sitting there, failed to ingratiate him into the good book of his own version of Maryada Purushottam. Regrettably, his exuberance in cutting Nitish Kumar to size, he lost his own grip over his party, his political stature and political heft, in the wake of rebellion from his own partymen who chucked him out, with an inexorable sense of striking at the very root of his political foundation. Evidently, Chirag, a failed actor, could have known that Bhakti in politics, without there being a quid pro quo, tantamounts to a political hara-kiri. In his blind devotion for Modi, whose brief he was publicly seen to be carrying before Bihar Election, by going gung ho in marginalising Nitish Kumar, and ensuring political dividend for his political master, ended up having an egg at his face: whereas his own party secured a solitary seat, Nitish’ JDU too, suffered the biggest blow, while BJP had the last laugh: It ended up being the winner, emerging a bigger party of its coalition where hitherto it was doing a piggy back riding to Nitish Kumar, the bigger partner of the coalition.
But then for self-declared Hanuman of his Ram, Modi, Chirag, as the adage goes : ‘ Na maya mili na Ram’, failed to decipher the simple lesson in politics: Do anyone’s bidding, not at the cost of alienating someone; and, even if you alienate someone, you must be assured of your own strategic interest. Unfortunately, Chirag lost his father’s seat of Rajya Sabha to Sushil Modi, and his own leadership of the party to his own uncle, Pashupati Paras, the younger brother of Ramvilas Paswan, the founder and the supremo of the party. In fact, the replication of the situation of Uttar Pradesh duplicating in Bihar: How Mulayam Singh Yadav, showing an ostensible tilt towards his son, Akhilesh, anlintted him as his successor, while giving a short shrift to his brother Shivpal who marched shoulder to shoulder with the former to build the party from the scratch.
But then the real politics is absolutely in contrast with the ideological mooring, if any, which is inordinately trumpeted for whipping up the sentiments of the voters for votes. The dynasty based party, including Congress today, has no ideology other than showcasing the dynasty as its summum bonum and raison d’etre. Nitish Kumar, in this very context, is no exception to this rule: His playing the Kurmi card, whereas it has enabled him thus far to reign in his party members, it has also brought him an adequate realisation that all his political calisthenics is limited to his home state, Bihar: during the last assembly election in Delhi, when Nitish had tied up with BJP, his gaining no traction even with the Biharis in Delhi, was the vindication of his permutation and combination was a success story in Bihar, his duplication of the same, outside of Bihar, proved to be sheer fiasco. No wonder he buried all his national ambitions under the sand while concentrating his exclusive focus on Bihar.
Significantly, Chirag, overestimating his proximity with the Prime Minister, went hammer and tongs to damage Nitish Kumar at the hustings. With the marginalisation of JDU in Bihar politics, due to Chirag’s playing the role of Handyman, for his Ram, Nitish was seething in rage, bidding for his time. And his time to strike Chirag came couple of days back, when Lok Janshakti Party split: Chirag was left fending for himself, when all the five MP’s had resolved to declare Pashupati Paras as their leaders in Lok Sabha of Lok Janshakti Party. In hindsight, it was known that Nitish Kumar was working on it for quite sometime, and Lalan Singh, his own party colleague was already in touch with Pashupati Paras. But then, even though Nitish Kumar was gloating over the fact of having avenged his defeat engendered by the political shenanigans of Chirag Paswan, hardly did Nitish know, far less had even the remotest of intuition, that his ground too, beneath his feet, was slilping: his political stratagem to diminish his close lieutenant, R. C. P. Singh, whom he made the national president of JDU, is emerging as his biggest challenger to him. Nitish Kumar’s recent flirting with Upendra Kushwaha, whom he is reported to accommodate as the party president, or any such portfolio, which has the potential to diminish R. C. P. Singh, has already triggered a potential revolt within JDU, lending it amenable for the future break up of JDU. In short, Laloo Yadav’s release from Jail, has set in motion the monumental challenge not only to keep his party in tact, but also to preserve his chief ministerial chair which increasingly comes under the prying eyes of Laloo Yadav. Evidently, with the buzz around Jiten Ram Manjhi joining hands with Laloo already doing rounds, the latest buzz that R. C. P. Singh is all set to rebel against Nitish Kumar, is another serious matter that presents a spectre for the ouster of Nitish Kumar from the citadel of power. In hindsight, the episode of George Fernandes comes readily to mind: how Nitish Kumar, in his utter exuberance brought about by his meteoric rise, had thrown out George from his party. No wonder the same episode is awaiting to boomerang on him: R.C.P Singh is stepping into his shoes to do the same thing he did decades ago with George Sahab. As the adage goes: you sow as you reap, Chirag Paswan is reaping for his wrongs; will Nitish pay the same price which he had done to George Fernandes?
