DNA Edit | Nitish waits & watches: Bihar CM is mum on CBI raids on Yadav clan

Follow the trajectory of Nitish Kumar’s political career, and it is evident that his is the politics of ambivalence and ideological suppleness. Many of his decisions, since PM Modi has come to power, and decades before that show that the Bihar chief minister has been quite comfortable in switching allies to secure political power. A veteran politician, Nitish has mastered the art of projecting an aura of mystery and indecipherability that keeps his contemporaries and the media guessing, without damaging his image among the people.

Of course, it is cold electoral calculations and not ideological underpinnings that dictate his actions. Take for instance the CBI FIR that RJD supremo Lalu Yadav and his family are busy dealing with. The FIR had been registered last week against the RJD chief, his wife and son Tejashwi Prasad, the deputy CM of Bihar, on the ground that they had allegedly accepted a chunk of land in a prime location as quid pro quo for awarding tenders for maintenance of two railway hotels. Many within the JD(U) have indicated  they would be pressuring Tejashwi to step down from the position of Deputy CM, but Nitish has kept mum on the subject.

In fact, while Congress has come out in support of the Yadav clan after the CBI raid, Nitish is keeping his cards close to his chest. The pretext is that he is not feeling well and that in a meeting of legislators to be held today, he is expected to make his stand clear on the charges being levelled against the Yadavs. Irrespective of whether he makes his stand known or not, his party MLAs have been raising the argument on media platforms that Tejashwi should resign voluntarily as it hurts the clean image of the government. What’s conveniently left unsaid is that Tejashwi’s ouster will only help cement his clout in the government given that the JD(U) is the smaller partner with just 71 seats while RJD holds 80 seats. Had it not been for a court order that forces Lalu Yadav into political exile, Nitish would not have made it as the CM of the mahagathbandhan.

Ironically, it was Nitish’s government that first made these allegations against the Yadavs which are now being investigated so zealously by the CBI. Nitish is an astute politician with his ear to the ground and an understanding of which way the wind is blowing for 2019. He won’t be spoiling his chances by appearing to take a stand against the formidable and pan-India appeal of PM Modi. His support of NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind or demonetisation is not based on ideological considerations, but on electoral ramifications.