With the BJP and allies sweeping all across Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who earlier had dismissed the NaMo wave as ‘blower wind’, appeared to be a worried man as the result could have its significant impact on his Government running on the support of some Congress and Independent MlAs.
Apprehending such impending result Kumar on Thursday had called meeting of his Cabinet to mull over the situation, but some of his Ministers reportedly engaged in tu tu-mai mai, while accusing each other for the party’s dismal performance.
All through the day Kumar remained inside the gate of his official bungalow at 1, Anne Marg, while mediapersons kept waiting outside the gate for his byte. The JD(U) headquarters too wore deserted look with a few office staff keeping cool inside a room before a TV screen.
While protesting Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial candidature Kumar on June 16 had snapped ties with the BJP hoping to polarise the 17 per cent minority vote share to his flock. He even dismissed the NaMo wave reeling in the State as a “blower wind” and not the natural wind but he apparently failed to gauge the mood of the country and his party performed miserably in the poll.
Now, the buzz in the political circle of the State is will the poll result has its impact on the running of the Nitish GovernmentIJ Earlier, Kumar has been saying in his poll campaigns that if his party was not voted they (the BJP) would make his Government fall down within ten days. “Woh dus dino ke bhitar hamari sarkar ko gira denge,” he kept saying to people in his public rallies.
later, some of the State BJP leaders and leaders from alliance parties like the lJP too said that after the lok Sabha poll, the days for the Nitish Government would be numbered. Presently in the 243 total strength of the State Assembly the JD(U) has 115 members and the Government is surviving on the support of four Congress and five Independent MlAs. Besides, many party leaders had deserted the party to contest the lok Sabha poll from other parties.
Altogether five Assembly constituencies like Baisi, Kochadhaman, Sahebpur Kamal, Maharajganj and Chiraiya have also gone to poll and their result will be quite significant for the survival of the Nitish Government. Party insiders said that the JD(U) would have to win maximum number of seats to reach closer to the magic figure of 122 to survive his Government.
Meanwhile, murmuring and rebellion from within the JD(U) too has started coming out on surface. In the cabinet meeting on Thursday, altogether five out of 14 Ministers were absent which fuelled speculation that all was not going well for Nitish Government. Senior Ministers like Narendra Singh, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Narendra Yadav were among those who skipped the cabinet meeting.
In the cabinet meeting, some of the Ministers like Ramai Ram, Bhim Singh and Nitish Mishra reportedly engaged in verbal dual while accusing each other for party’s non-performance. The other party leaders had to intervene to bring order in the Cabinet meeting.
Party insiders also said that even the JD(U) president Sharad Yadav too is not going well with the party leader Nitish Kumar and after the humiliating performance of the party in the lok Sabha poll, he might take a major political decision in coming days. Sharad Yadav lost the poll against RJD candidate Pappu Yadav from Madhepura constituency.
However, the Opposition leaders of BJP have been saying that they would not like to do anything to make the Nitish Government fall in near future but “if the Government fell short of majority on the floor of the House, it would fall down on its own”.
Political pundits of the State are of the opinion that with the BJP getting unprecedented victory in the lok Sabha poll in Bihar, it would definitely mean a bad omen for the ruling Nitish Government. Some even predicted that Bihar may go to Assembly polls in September.
“It would be interesting to see what the next step of Bihar Chief Minister will beIJ Will he go for the Assembly poll sooner or try to forge a new social combination before the due date if Assembly poll in the State,” said one of them.
Meanwhile, the biggest social engineer of the State Nitish is maintaining his graceful mum analysing the real strength of the NaMo wave which possibly has defused all the arrows in his arsenal.