A ploy to keep his flock together? Whispers in JD(U) after Nitish Kumar attends Deendayal event

Patna: “Official duties,” said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after he attended a function on Monday observing the birth anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. But, that did not stop the Bihar political circles from going agog about the significance of his decision.

What makes it more vexing is that even though the RSS ideologue’s statue was installed in Patna after he came to power along with the BJP in 2017, he had not attended any function there until Monday. Although his deputy Tejashwi Yadav accompanied him, all eyes were on Nitish when he reached the function in Patna.

In August, Nitish flew to Delhi to pay tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary at his memorial. Earlier this month, he attended the banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu for G20 leaders where PM Narendra Modi introduced him to US President Joe Biden. 

“There is not an iota of truth that Nitishji will return to the BJP. This illusion is being created by godi media which is patronised by the BJP. The speculation is created due to small gestures like acknowledging the role of Vajpayee, or attending a dinner hosted by the President. We will not even turn to spit on the BJP, which is ruling on the basis of false and unfulfilled promises. We are firmly with the INDIA bloc,” JD(U) national president Lallan Singh told ThePrint.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), too, dismissed it as a rumour created by the BJP. “The BJP is a master in creating rumours. Nitishji and Laluji are firmly with each other,” RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said.

Many JD(U) insiders told ThePrint that being seen as warming up to the BJP helps Nitish to keep his flock together. On several occasions, Union home minister Amit Shah had taunted Nitish that his MPs were lining up on the door of BJP for entry. The JDU MLAs and MPs are said to be weighing their options after 2025 when Nitish is expected to step away in favour of his deputy, Tejashwi. 

But, not everyone is willing to take that bait. “Suppose I join the BJP and after that Nitish joins hands with the BJP, he will target politicians who have deserted him,” a senior JD(U) MLA told ThePrint. Many of his party colleagues echo similar sentiments.

“The BJP wants to create confusion in the INDIA ranks. Nitish Kumar’s regard for Atal Bihari Vajpayee is well known. Nitish was not the only one to go to the G20 meet. Mamata Banerjee also went. and the photo of Nitishji with PM Modi was shared on Instagram not by CM, but by the PM handle. Nitishji goes to functions associated with various leaders of different parties. All these speculations have been triggered off by BJP, and there is not an iota of truth in them,” JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar told ThePrint.

Nitish had worked in various capacities including the railways and the transport minister under the Vajpayee-led NDA government

In the RJD camp, the mood has changed from seeking Tejashwi’s crowning as the chief minister to opting for continuity in power sharing. “With CBI cases proceeding against Lalu and family, there is no wisdom in trying to destabilise this government for the sake of the CM post. It is better not to push the JD(U) to the corner,” an RJD MLA said. 

Former deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi asserted that it is not the BJP’s “fault” if there is a strong speculation of Nitish Kumar returning to the NDA fold. “We have been very clear from the beginning that the NDA gates are closed forever. Union home minister Amit Shah has said it in virtually every public meeting in Bihar after Nitishji left us,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. 

He added that Nitish needed these speculations to keep his party united and to also build pressure on the RJD, a claim many in the JD(U) tend to agree with. 

Social analyst D.M.Diwakar asserted that speculations surrounding Nitish were not out of turn as the JD(U) leader had frequently changed allies.

“Had the BJP been able to corner him in cases like the Srijan scam, they would have done it. (That’s) because they know that it will be very difficult to repeat their performance in Bihar without Nitish. But at the same time, there is no visible change in the JD(U) stand against the BJP — the speeches in Parliament, JD(U)’s active participation in INDIA bloc and the fact that Lalu and Nitish are meeting frequently does not indicate towards him leaning toward the BJP,” the former director of Patna’s A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies told ThePrint. 

(Edited by Tony Rai)

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