A political earthquake shook Bihar through Wednesday night when Nitish Kumar tendered his resignation from the Chief Minister’s post, thus delivering a decisive end to a standoff with Lalu Prasad Yadav.
At the time of going to Press, the NDA was poised to elect Nitish as its leader and sending the governor of Bihar a letter of support — which would form the basis for the ‘resigned’ Chief Minister’s resurrection. The pace of events suggested that there was a script, with the actors playing their part in perfect synchronisation.
Speaking to reporters after submitting his resignation, Kumar had not shot down the possibility of forming an alliance with the BJP. While the ruling JD(U) missed no opportunity to reiterate that this was a “decision of the conscience”, it was not lost on anyone that this could quite possibly be a calibrated move for Nitish to join forces with the BJP.
Little else explains the immediate, yet timely, tweet by PM Modi congratulating him on tendering his resignation for “rising above political considerations in the fight against corruption”. As a formality, a three-member committee was being set up by the BJP with the task of submitting a report to the Centre on whether or not it should form an alliance with Nitish’s party. But that question became superfluous by Wednesday night.
Two things bore hints to this development. Firstly, the BJP expressed “interest” in securing a stable government in Bihar and second, perhaps, more importantly, it was not interested in any mid-term polls. The logjam between Nitish and his erstwhile ally Lalu Yadav was triggered earlier this month.
On July 7, the CBI raided the accommodations of the family members of the Yadav clan in connection with a case alleging irregularities in the awarding of tenders for maintenance of hotels in Ranchi. Along with that, the investigative agency had also registered a case against Yadav, his wife and his son.
In the aftermath of the scam coming to light, Bihar’s Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and the number two in the Mahagathbandhan alliance, fended off allegations levelled against him as BJP motivated political vendetta. Had it not been for Kumar’s shocker from the blue, the Yadav clan would have preferred to hold on to the power reins as long as possible.
However, in one fell swoop, the Yadavs and along with them the Congress find themselves on the back foot, while the BJP is at the steering wheel. But there is a cost-benefit analysis that Kumar must have considered before siding with the BJP. However, he could very well be in for a rude surprise. With the BJP lending him support so as to be able to stay in power, it will be the one in the driver’s seat.