Nitish Kumar retains rare skill to dump & ride BJP at will as Paras quits Cabinet on sore note
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 19: Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras has resigned from the council of ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He quit the Cabinet after his party, the Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party, was not accommodated in the seat adjustment pact for Bihar, which was unveiled yesterday.
Paras joins former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala in finding dumped from the NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP in a surprise and swift move replaced former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to get rid of Chautala. The NDA while on a spree to gain allies ahead of the Lok Sabha elections got rid of both Paras and Chautala.
While the BJP has shown an ease to pick allies at will to suit the party’s electoral expediency, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar retains the rare legacy to have used the saffron outfit at will. Unlike earlier held views among a section of the political commentators that Kumar has compromised on his stature by returning to the NDA in a dramatic fashion, the Janata Dal (United) headed by the Bihar chief minister drew a hard bargain to get 16 Lok Sabha seats to contest in the general elections.
The Bihar Chief Minister was able to return to the NDA fold despite the often repeated claims of the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah that the BJP would never take back the JD (U) in the saffron alliance. Kumar by showcasing his political acumen is seen to have established himself as the irreplaceable entity in Bihar politics.
Almost at will, he has been able to stitch alliances with either the BJP or the main opposition in the state, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Election strategist Prashant Kishor laments often that whoever the people in Bihar vote for the irony of the state is such that the post of the chief ministers goes to Kumar only.
The JD (U) chief had entered into an alliance with Bihar to oust the RJD from power first in 2005. Since then he has been the chief minister of the state except for a brief period when he had installed Jitan Ram Manjhi as a stopgap arrangement. With the BJP most eagerly accepting the partnership with the JD (U) to form the government in the state, the saffron outfit apparently seems to have admitted the inelastic electoral base of the party in Bihar.
It is noteworthy to note that Bihar politics remains wedded to the social justice plank despite the BJP whipping up the Hindutva bogey across the country. The caste equations in Bihar remain a mountain hill that the BJP finds difficult to scale despite ‘Brand Modi’ expanding the electoral base of the saffron outfit. Besides, the BJP in Bihar still retains the old tag of a ‘Baniya party’ enjoying the support of the upper castes.
The Bihar caste survey had revealed that almost 65 per cent of the population in the state hails from the backward castes. The JD (U) over the years carved out a strategic base consisting of Kurmi-Koeris-Mahadalit while also making a dent in the Rajput support base of the RJD. By inducting Lovely Anand, wife of yesteryear don Anand Mohan Singh, ahead of the elections in the JD (U), the Bihar Chief Minister has yet again shown eagerness to make base with the Rajput caste group in the state.
In contrast, the BJP is seen struggling to expand the electoral vote base in Bihar while depending on Brahmin, Bhumihar, and Baniya caste groups. By ceding space to Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha, and Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustan Awami Morcha, the BJP has apparently shown that the party is still struggling to break free from the compulsion to stay with Kumar.
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