After joining hands with RJD chief lalu Prasad to remain in power, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was accused of rolling out the red carpet for the return of lalu era’s ‘Jungle Raj,’ but the Janata Dal (United) stalwart is determined to silence his critics in the run up to the State Assembly polls.
In an exclusive interview to The Pioneer, Kumar said he will use the six-month period to convince the people that even if the RJD was part of the ruling alliance, they should not be apprehensive about breakdown of law and order or governance.
“For the next six months, I'll run a coalition of the JD(U), RJD and the Congress. This will give people of Bihar a chance to witness how I'll never compromise on the twin issues of governance and law & order. When we go to polls, the BJP will have to look for some other issue. This is not going to fetch them votes,” he said.
When pointed out that during the last eight months Bihar has gradually drifted towards administrative chaos and the crime graph has risen, Nitish was quick to shift the blame on Jeetan Ram Manjhi.
“Everybody knows what happened. Manjhi betrayed my trust and became a pawn in the hands of the BJP and politically-discarded elements. Since governance became a casualty, the decline in law and order was inevitable,” he said.
Nitish said the BJP has no moral right to accuse him of political opportunism for joining hands with lalu Prasad when the saffron party has no qualms about embracing the PDP.
“After the BJP embraced the PDP, which it held responsible for all-round backwardness of Jammu & Kashmir and promoting nepotism of the worst kind, the party had no moral right to question my alliance with the RJD. Can the BJP explain what’s common between it and the PDPIJ For decades, the BJP harped on repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to J&K, but for the sake of power the party junked its pet agenda. At least, the JD(U) and the RJD are ideologically aligned — we are part of the same Janata Parivar.”
Nitish does not give much significance to the so-called Manjhi factor, that his rivals hope, would make major dent in the JD(U)’s Mahadalit votes. “The Mahadalit segment knows what I did for them in the past. Manjhi cannot fool them by making false promises. The same BJP, which first projected Manjhi as symbol of mis-governance, is now showcasing him as a messiah of the Mahadalits. People are not so foolish. They know who is behind Manjhi’s rebellionIJ”
Even though lalu Prasad is tight-lipped about the proposed merger of the Janata Parivar, Nitish is sure that things will work out smoothly. “Everyone of is aware that we need to come together to fight the resurgent BJP. We are in touch with each other, and I see no difficulty in uniting the Janata Parivar,” he said.
Nitish allays fears that the poor chemistry between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come in the way of development of Bihar. “There is nothing personal about it. The relation between the State and the Centre is governed by well-laid norms and rules. The Centre knows it well that as long as backward States are not given incentives to join the mainstream of development, India cannot grow. We have to keep aside personal whims and fancy when it comes to welfare of the people.”
Nitish says development alone will be his slogan in polls, and he would run a progressive campaign with the help of thousands of trained volunteers. “We have to adapt ourselves to the changing time. Political mobilisation through traditional modes is very much required, but we also need to reach out to the young generation through the platform of social media. We are working in that direction,” he said.
Nitish says he was hopeful that people of Bihar will give him a renewed mandate as he has delivered on his promises during the last five years. “In 2010, when I went around seeking votes in the Assembly polls, I promised to electrify all the villages of the State. I had said I’ll not come to seek the mandate again if I failed in achieving the task. Today, in majority of the villages we have round-the-clock power supply. Who could have imagined such transformation in mere five yearsIJ I can go to voters with my head high.”