JD (U) MPs work up Nitish Kumar for swing politics

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The Bihar chief minister is said to be insisting that his party would not contest on less than 18 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar.

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By Manish Anand

New Delhi, January 25: Political pundits on the social media platforms have given a loud verdict that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set for one more bout of a volte face. The deleted tweet of Rohini Acharya, daughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, blew a gust of political speculation on the national stage on the likely move of Kumar.

The Bihar chief minister in the last one decade has earned a label of being a political gymnast of unparalleled flexibility to adjust the flavour of the electoral season. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Bihar in the first week of the next month. The stage for his grand entry in Bihar was set by the announcement of awarding posthumously the Bharat Ratna on former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur. The BJP afterwards drummed up the political sloganeering that after the consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya, the prime minister has also given justice to one of the the foremost icons of the poor.

Thakur is widely hailed in Bihar for being the architect of the politics of social justice. His son ram Nath Thakur is a Rajya Sabha MP of the Janata Dal (United). The incumbent Bihar Chief Minister profusely thanked the prime minister for fulfilling the longstanding demand for Bharat Ratna. Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashvi Yadav also claimed that he too had raised the demand for Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur in his last meeting with the prime minister.

While dots are indeed revealing on the political map of Bihar ahead of the visit of the prime minister, which will kickstart the poll campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Lok Sabha elections, the Bihar chief minister was conveyed by the Lok Sabha MPs of his party that he needed to do a rethink on his strategy for the general elections.

“Eighty per cent of the Lok Sabha MPs of the JD (U) had told the chief minister that he should rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the recently held national executive meeting of the party in the national capital,” said a top ranking functionary of the JD (U).

Incidentally, the incumbent Lok Sabha MPs of the JD (U) had won the elections when the party was in an alliance with the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Besides, they are not keen to sit out if the chief minister concedes to the Opposition bloc, the Indian National Democratic and Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) for a liberal seat sharing pact. The Bihar chief minister is said to be insisting that his party would not contest on less than 18 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar. This may seem unlikely as the Opposition block in Bihar has become crowded with the presence of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, the CPI (ML), and others.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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