When Nitish Kumar’s bloated ambition to become the prime minister, trumps his political pragmatism to rule Bihar.
Vivekanand Jha Ranchi: Indeed as a proverb goes in Hindi that, when the death of an ant beckons it, it runs towards the town, Nitish Kumar, when the time for his political downsizing has already begun, even political pundits have begun writing his political obituary, suddenly dreams a gorgeous dream: his elevation as the nation’s prime minister. Significantly, Nitish had made his intentions clear: The very background of Red Fort(Lal Quila) at his Iftar party, dispelled the notion, rather successfully blew the lid off any such veil of Nitish’ overwhelming ambition to enter into the shoes of Narendra Modi as India’s next prime minister. Ironically, when Bihar was burning, Nitish Kumar was fiddling in the Iftar Party, showcasing his grandiose ambition to emerge as the opposition’s choice to take on Modi. This, subtle, yet definitive, message delivered to Rahul Gandhi could not have come at the worst time for Rahul Gandhi:his exit from Lok Sabha also marks his unceremonious banisment from the space of leadership of opposition to be pitted against Modi. Also, the whole theatrics was enacted to show a larger than life image of Nitish Kumar, especially against the backdrop of Amit Shah deploying the paramilitary forces in Sasaram and Nalanda suo motu taking cognizance of communal cauldron engendered by the attack of muslim nobs from mosques and other places, when the peaceful Ram Navami processions were passing by such routes. It was Nitish Kumar’s way of conveying to Amit Shah, ‘ Look, you are showing your power in Bihar, we will evict you from the Red Fort in Delhi’. But then, by this act of symbolism, Nitish Kumar purportedly projects himself as a laughing stock for his own fellow Biharis as well as the fellow countrymen, especially against the backdrop of the bruised feelings of Hindus being humiliated yet again: The random assault on their peaceful Ram Navami procession, was the living testimony of Muslims bullishness against the peace loving Hindus. Worse still, Nitish Kumar revelling in Iftar party, exuberantly showcasing himself as India’s next prime minister, when Bihar continued to burn in communal conflagration, further provoked the national sentiment against Nitish Kumar.
Significantly, the sanity seems to be eluding Nitish Kumar of late, for the increasing marginalisation of JDU, against the backdrop of RJD’s overwhelming domination, has already anguished the thinking leaders of JDU, who are counting their days in office, with the prospect of an eventual oblivion staring them at their faces, it hardly matters Nitish Kumar who is gung ho about his prospects to defeat Narendra Modi and enter into 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in Delhi. No wonder, this belief is absolutely an imagination of Nitish Kumar without his feet grounded, which is not even bought by his party men, hardly perturbs the Bihar Chief Minister, whose obsession to unseat Modi has rendered him almost hysteric and crazy. In fact, such is the level of his obsession, that Nitish Kumar has refused to see the dark days ahead, when his own party is on the verge of a break: The large number of leaders of his own party no longer buys his enthusiasm; they in fact believe that their future lies in an alliance with BJP, and not in dabbling with Laloo Prasad and his son Tejaswi Yadav. Whereas Nitish remains conversant with the viewpoint of his party colleagues, yet he appears to be frenzied about his chances to become the first Bihari Prime Minister and consequently all his pragmatism seems to have been eluding him in his running amok like an unbridled horse towards the path which might end in cul-de-sac.
Incidentally, Nitish Kumar too, has signalled his prime miniserial aspirations from Iftar party, a Muslim platform, giving a sufficient indication that he is choice of Muslims for prime ministership. This is a symbolic message delivered to other alternative leadership faces in opposition. Apart from conveying Rahul Gandhi, in black and white, that he should not consider himself as the sole leadership face, Nitish has sought to impress upon Mamata Banerjee that he should not be dismissed in the race for national leadership from opposition to take on Modi. In the meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee who remained elusive for next few days after the Ram Navami processions were attacked in Howrah and other places, offered her public comment along the expected line, ‘ Bengal has no space for danga'( riots). Significantly, Mamata had failed to comprehend about the cause of riots; it was, in fact, the Muslim hooligans who had pelted stones at the peaceful processions. But then, Mamata too, is in the race for prime ministerial face and, therefore, she has to rally her milch cows for the same. Hence, Muslims alone matters for Didi. Small wonder then, whether it is Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar or Mamata Banerjee, they have their prime ministerial ambitions based on the support of Muslim vote bank. Unequivocally then, Narendra Modi remains the favourite prime ministerial face of Hindus. It is, therefore, the opposition leaders are left with little choice to increasingly kowtow Muslims for fulfilling their ambition. However, the moot question remains: with Hindus ever standing in a far greater solidarity with Narendra Modi, where is the chance for these opposition leaders?
In hindsight, it is Nitish Kumar who is the biggest loser in terms of his overall credibility. His party JDU, ever in the wake of his another political somersault: his stitching alliance with RJD, has been fast losing his grip over the polity. The impression has already been gaining salliance with the people is this: Nitish Kumar is already past his prime and consequently he is in the process of anointing Tejaswi Yadav as the next chief minister of Bihar. This perception is causing dread in the hearts of JDU leaders who appear restless. There is hardly any cooperation at the cadre level between the JDU and RJD. The exit of Upendra Kushwaha, who claims to have been taken for a ride by Nitish Kumar–Nitish Kumar had promised him to make him the deputy CM–has been talking about the sense of restlessness in JDU. Worse still, the communal flare up on the occasion of Ram Navami, where Amit Shah had to send the paramilitary forces for containing the riots in Sasaram and Nalanda, in consultation with governor where chief minister was not involved, was a big snub to the ‘ Sushashan Babu’ image of Nitish Kumar. The decision of the Home Minister Amit Shah to send the para military forces in the riot hit areas, vindicates the total failure of Nitish Kumar as the so-called Sushashan Babu. Also, Nitish Kumar handing over Bihar to Tejaswi Yadav, from whom he parted ways in 2017, on the charges of corruption, once again puts the question mark on his political belief. Be that as it may, far from becoming India’s Prime Minister, Nitish Kumar does not have the least chance to emerge as a political figure in Bihar in the post- 2025 election. Nitish Kumar, as the political scenario stands today, is already a de jure chief minister, with the de-facto power already being transferred in the hands of Laloo family to rule Bihar the way they want.
Vivekanand Jha,
Author, Academician and a Public Intellectual.
