lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar stand exposed
Two conclusions can be arrived at from the political drama that the country has witnessed over the past few days in Bihar. The first is that the Rashtriya Janata Dal led by lalu Prasad is not in the best of health. And the second is that Mr Nitish Kumar's people messed up the plot to engineer the defection of MlAs from lalu Prasad's party. Both these groups, though, are now claiming victory — the RJD for getting back a majority of the legislators that had bolted, and the JD(U) for having so far managed to retain the leader of the rebel pack and a few others. lalu Prasad has been on a triumphant march ever since he managed to get the defectors back in his fold, but even he cannot deny the existence of fault lines within his party, and especially among his MlAs. The fact that as many as 13 legislators from the RJD could cross over right under his nose, should worry him. There is disenchantment over the manner in which lalu Prasad has been conducting the affairs of his party and his virtual subservience to the Congress. His MlAs are wondering if it makes sense for the RJD to be beholden to a party which has been marginalised in the State, and which is in no position to take on a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party. The rebels must have also realised that while the RJD may get some seats in the lok Sabha election from Bihar on the strength of ‘sympathy' for its convicted leader, the number is unlikely to be significant enough to halt the BJP's rise. On the other hand, they must have believed that Mr Nitish Kumar and his party still hold the upper hand in the State's politics and that it would serve their interests to align with him rather than remain with the RJD and its discredited partner, the Congress. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that lalu Prasad demonstrated tremendous political acumen to swiftly contain the damage.
On the other hand, the Chief Minister and his party have emerged not only as losers but are also being perceived in the public eye of being unethical and even immoral in trying to break the RJD. The repeated claim by JD(U) leaders, including that by Mr Nitish Kumar, that their party had nothing to do with the rebellion in the ranks of the RJD, cannot be believed. The rebels could not have plotted their move without the tacit approval of the ruling party. The swift manner in which the Speaker of the Bihar Assembly issued a notification recognising the breakaway group and allowing for a separate seating arrangement for these legislators in the House, is proof of the JD(U)'s complicity in the drama. The Speaker did not bother to conduct an independent probe into the affair before he took the rebel group’s words for granted. Nor, it appears, did he cross-check the signatures of the rebel members. It is clear that the JD(U), after it snapped ties with the BJP, is desperate to improve upon its reduced numbers in the House. The amateurish and failed attempt to break the RJD was a step in that direction.