Nitish Kumar, despite being the prime mover for the INDIA front, is yet to get ‘appropriate recognition’ from alliance partners, says a senior leader of his JD(U). The Bihar CM is apparently also unhappy with JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan aka Lalan Singh’s growing closeness to Lalu Prasad and other senior members of the RJD
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Over the past decade, Bihar has witnessed several political shifts and dynamic changes in relationships among its senior leaders. As the opposition INDIA bloc approaches the crucial seat-sharing stage for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, speculations are rife over Nitish Kumar’s call for a central committee meeting on December 29 amid murmurs of friction in Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) party.
Political observers say all is not well in Kumar’s JD(U), with its national president Rajiv Ranjan aka Lalan Singh allegedly veering towards Lalu Prasad and other senior members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). However, a section of JD(U) and RJD leaders dismisses this as a “political hypothesis and rumour mongering” by their rivals to create confusion ahead of the seat-sharing process.
Kumar, despite being the prime mover for the INDIA front, is yet to get “appropriate recognition” from alliance partners, which upset him, said a senior leader of his party who did not want to be named. This is also linked to the alleged fissures surfacing between the RJD and the JD(U) — both constituents of the opposition alliance.
CM Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD have not been seen sharing a stage over the past two weeks. Yadav skipped at least three major events, including the state’s global investors’ meet in Patna and a dairy meet, though he was supposed to attend all of them.
“Kumar was likely to move to national politics and he was expecting a lead or an important position in the alliance, while he was supposed to hand over the mantle to Tejashwi in the state. Kumar, who is one of the most senior politicians in the alliance, played an important role in both central and state politics and has his political ambition. He was also expected to get the position of the national convener of the INDIA bloc,” said the JD(U) leader cited above. However, the way the Congress is dictating terms on the agenda and leadership has irked the Bihar chief minister, he said.
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“In addition, his party colleague Lalan Singh did not succeed in making his position stronger and is slowly aligning towards the RJD. Singh is also becoming unpopular among party colleagues. We are expecting a change in structure or a major reconciliation. But no one knows what is in store for us on December 29,” he added.
Senior leaders and political experts in Bihar have diverse views on the series of incidents that triggered speculations around the JD(U)-RJD alliance and Kumar’s equations with colleague Lalan Singh.
“Nitish Kumar is very much aware of the current scenario and all the rumours flying around in the political circles and the media. Nitish ji and Lalan Singh are close friends. Nitish ji sent him to the Rajya Sabha too. He was the first one from the JD(U) to go to the Rajya Sabha a decade back. The BJP and some of their affiliates are spreading such rumours to create doubt and confusion in people’s minds…,” said another senior JD(U) leader, who too spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The RJD, for its part, maintained that there was nothing “unusual” in its alliance with the JD(U).
“Everything is fine in the JD(U)-RJD coalition. There is nothing unusual. The BJP is losing support in the rural belt of Bihar, and, out of frustration, they are spreading such rumours. This is nothing but a political hypothesis,” said Shakti Singh Yadav, a senior leader and spokesperson of the RJD. “Tejashwi ji has always said that he is in no hurry to become Bihar’s chief minister. He is rather more interested in working towards a developed Bihar.”
Shakti Singh, however, added that the proposal for the face of the INDIA bloc should have been vetted by senior leaders of all the parties before putting forward a name. “Lalu ji and Nitish ji have been working to stitch up the alliance, bringing everyone together for long. They should always be consulted for any such proposals. In fact, the person whose name was proposed also downplayed it,” he added.
In a recent meeting of the INDIA bloc, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s name as the alliance’s prime ministerial face in 2024. The JD(U), on the other hand, has been campaigning for Kumar as the top contender.
Navin Upadhyay, a senior political analyst from Bihar, said Kumar is visibly upset. “He was expecting to be announced as the convener of the INDIA bloc. He also expected Lalan Singh to make the move. Everything does not seem right between Nitish Kumar and Lalan Singh. The state ministers and MLAs of his party, too, are not happy with Singh. He is a Bhumihar leader, but he does not have much contribution to the caste cauldron of Nitish Kumar’s party. Moreover, Bihar has around 2-3% Bhumihar voters, and a majority of them vote for the BJP,” he said. “Lalan Singh is a man of organisation and has always been a trusted general of Nitish Kumar, but of late he appears to be more aligned towards Lalu Yadav. And it has not gone down well with the chief minister.”
There was no immediate reaction by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This article will be updated when the BJP reacts to the events in Bihar.
