Nitish Kumar’s hasty move hits Bihar’s interests
The split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United) was coming for weeks now, and when it formally happened on Sunday, the development did not take anybody, least of all the leaders and workers of the two parties, by surprise. But what could have been avoided is the atmosphere of bitterness in which the parting of ways took place. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar behaved in a petty fashion by sacking 11 Ministers who belonged to the BJP, on the ground that they had conducted themselves in an “undisciplined” manner by returning files of their respective ministries and refusing to turn up for a Cabinet meeting on the day the JD(U) decided to chart a course separate from that of the BJP. Once the JD(U) had made it clear days before Sunday that the announcement of a split was a mere formality, it would have been silly for the BJP Ministers in the State Government to continue going about their job as if nothing had happened.
Also, the Cabinet meeting which Mr Nitish Kumar had called on the decisive day was not to discuss any State issue, but to deliberate on the imminent collapse of ties — a matter which the State's BJP leaders had no mandate to discuss at their level. In any case, these Ministers would have put in their papers once the JD(U) formally announced the split. But now that these niceties have been given the miss and there is little that can be gained by crying over spilt milk, the BJP and the NDA must single-handedly work to achieve success in Bihar (and elsewhere in the country), countering not just the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal but also Mr Nitish Kumar's party. The BJP can take heart from the fact that it is not a non-entity in Bihar; with 91 seats in the State Assembly, it has a major presence, and many bipartisan observers believe the party can actually do better without the JD(U). Be that as it may, we will also do well to remember that there are no full stops in politics. Mr Nitish Kumar could well return to the NDA at some opportune time. He has had a 17-year long fruitful alliance with the BJP, and he and his party gained as much as the BJP did in the process.
While the impact of the split will be felt by both the BJP and the JD(U), the biggest loser in this political game is Bihar. The JD(U)-BJP Government led by Mr Nitish Kumar had done a marvellous job of rescuing the State from the socio-economic mess which the RJD regimes led first by Mr lalu Prasad and then by his wife Rabri Devi had plunged Bihar into. Repeated electoral mandates which the voters gave (cutting across caste and community lines) to the NDA rule in the State is a testimony to the fact that the people were thrilled by the miraculous turnaround. law and order was streamlined, industrial and agricultural activities got a boost, new and better infrastructure was created. The Bihari sense of pride too was re-established along the way. Now that the ideal alliance has snapped, we can only hope that the people of the State do not suffer the consequences. They do not deserve to slip back into the chaotic days of the RJD regime led by Mr lalu Prasad, as a result of Mr Nitish Kumar's decision made in haste and based on a mere theoretical possibility of the BJP naming Mr Modi as its prime ministerial candidate some time in the future.