Nitish Kumar: an enigma for both rivals and allies

In recent times, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been in the news over the growing bonhomie with former partner - the BJP, while running a government in alliance with his friend-turned-foe-turned-friend - the RJD. In politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

So goes an aphorism that seems tailor-made for Nitish, a product of the popular Jayaprakash Narayan-led student movement of 1974-75. The Bihar CM, who also took over as the national president of the Janata Dal (United) in 2016, is famed in political circles for springing surprises, many a time going against the stand taken by his allies and even party members.

Nitish’s current support for the BJP, with which he parted ways in June 2013 after a 17-year-long partnership, commenced in December 2015 when he backed PM Narendra Modi’s Pakistan visit to wish Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.

Subsequently, he backed the Centre on surgical strikes stating there should be no politics on issues of national security.

However, his unequivocal support to demonetisation came as a surprise, a move that was not just opposed by allies RJD and Congress or ‘friends’ like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, but also left senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav red-faced in Parliament.

While Nitish’s sudden camaraderie with the BJP set tongues wagging over a reunion, those who know Nitish and his national ambitions, claim the BJP has nothing to offer to him. These disagreements with coalition partners are a part of Nitish’s strategy to keep Lalu Prasad’s RJD, the senior partner in the Mahagathbandhan with 80 seats, in check.

On record, Nitish says all is well in the grand alliance. An engineer by education, Nitish played a key role in ‘bade bhai’ Lalu Prasad’s anointment as the CM of Bihar in 1990, only to fall apart a few years later. For two decades, until 2014, Nitish was Lalu’s bête noire.

Having built a formidable alliance with the BJP during this period, Nitish was a union minister in the Vajpayee cabinet and served as Bihar CM for two terms. As CM, Nitish coined the slogan ‘development with justice’. His immediate priority was establishing the rule of law in Bihar, where a ‘Jungle Raj’ was said to be thriving and earned him the ‘Vikas Purush’’tag.

Nitish also focused on improving road connectivity, power and education, The JD(U)-BJP alliance returned with a thumping majority in 2010. But Nitish could not digest the elevation of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s PM candidate for the Lok Sabha elections resulting in his exit from the NDA. While some say, Nitish himself was aiming for the top post, political observers claim he feared losing his backward and Muslim votebank, and hence the break-up.

The miserable performance of the JD(U) in the 2014 general election shook Nitish, who stepped down as Bihar CM, crowning Jitan Ram Manjhi in his place. The move was a political blunder. But a few months down the line, he took back the reigns of the state and joined hands with Lalu and the Congress, the same forces against whom he had received the mandate in 2005 and 2010. Nitish, who was already popular among women voters for his various welfare schemes, won their loyalty with the prohibition ‘masterstroke’ ahead of the 2015 assembly polls.

Women voters turned out in droves and returned him to office, albeit with new partners. Interestingly, the Mahagathbandhan experiment, came as a beacon of hope to the Opposition proving that the BJP’s juggernaut could be halted in a bipolar contest.

Nitish, the administrator, likes to connect with the grassroots and undertakes ‘yatras’ across the state to assess the pulse of the people. Nitish’s latest term has been dominated by his ‘total prohibition’ agenda, even visiting other states to advertise the gambit, perhaps with a certain Mission 2019 in mind. At a recent event, when bombarded with questions relating to his cosying up to Modi, Nitish has “promised answers in the coming days”.

But for now, like any seasoned player who keeps his opponents guessing, Nitish has kept his cards close to his chest.