Bihar is agog with speculation of yet another political volte-face by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has convened a meeting of all Janata Dal(U) legislators on Tuesday, conceding with a similar meeting called by the RJD.
JD(U) national president Lallan Singh on Sunday set the cat among the pigeons by claiming that there was a conspiracy to weaken the JD(U) and his party will expose it soon. He called it Chirag Model 2. Chirag Paswan’s party fielded scores of candidates against the JD(U) in Bihar Assembly polls 2020, which led to confusion and cost the JD(U) several seats. Lallan Singh said a similar conspiracy was on now.
Sources in the JD(U) said they have an audio recording of conversations where attempts were made to break JD(U). A senior JD(U) leader said that Nitish suspects that there was a design to repeat a Maharashtra in Bihar, and this may force him to walk out of the NDA and join hands with the RJD.
The Bihar Chief Minister skipped the farewell of former President Ram Nath Kovind and the swearing-in of Droupadi Murmu and, more recently, the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Sources said that in the event of Nitish and the RJD reviving the Mahagathbhandhan of 2015, the Congress, and the Left will be part of such a formation and Nitish will continue to be the Chief Minister till 2025. “After that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will be projected as CM in the Assembly polls,” said a leader privy to negotiation going on between the RJD and the JD(U).
Amid the brewing political storm in Bihar, the Opposition RJD on Monday said it was ready to “embrace” Nitish and his JD(U) if he breaks ranks with the BJP. RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary said that convening meetings of legislators by both parties on Tuesday were a clear indication that the situation was extraordinary.
“Personally, I am not aware of the goings on. But we cannot ignore the fact that both parties, which together had sufficient numbers to muster a majority, have convened such meetings when an Assembly session is not round the corner,” Tiwary told reporters.
“If Nitish chooses to dump the NDA, what choice do we have except to embrace him (gale lagayenge). The RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the Chief Minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along,” said Tiwary.
He was also asked whether the RJD would be willing to forget bitter episodes of the past, like Kumar’s return to the NDA in 2017, citing allegations of corruption against Lalu Prasad and his family members, including younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, who was then his deputy.
The Congress, principal rival of the BJP nationally but a spent force in Bihar, also went into a huddle. “All party MLAs have unanimously resolved to support the new formation that comes into being if Nitish Kumar breaks away from the BJP,” AICC secretary and MLA Shakil Ahmed Khan said.
AICC in-charge Bhakt Charan Das, who is on a scheduled visit, expressed similar sentiments prior to the legislature party meeting but said “no idea” when asked about reports that the Bihar CM has spoken over phone to Sonia Gandhi and sought an appointment on August 11.
“In politics, we cannot remain prisoners of the past. We socialists had started off opposing the Congress which was then in power. But, even the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi was imposed by invoking the Constitution.
The BJP, which has now become a behemoth, seems out to destroy the Constitution. We have to respond to the challenges of the times,” Tiwary said.
Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is an NDA ally, however, claimed there was no crisis in the ruling coalition. “In the JD(U), it is Nitish Kumar who calls the shots. He has not said anything so far. I do not know what he is exactly thinking. But had he planned any major move, he would have given me a hint. I will, however, try to talk to him,” Manjhi, whose son is a minister, and who had once agreed to merge his party with the JD(U), said.