Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s fear that he might be removed from his post like former chief minister Karpoori Thakur reflects the widening rift between his Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, caused by the inherent contradictions in the mandate of 2020 assembly elections in Bihar.“Karpoori Thakur as the chief minister worked for the welfare of all sections of the society but he was removed from his post within two years. We too are working in the interest of all sections of society. Sometimes, some people get annoyed at the prospect of working in the interest of all sections of the society,” the Bihar chief minister was quoted as saying while commemorating the anniversary of his mentor and the socialist patriarch at his party office on Sunday.Thakur served the state of Bihar as chief minister twice – first from December 22, 1970 to June 2, 1971 and again from June 24, 1977 to April 21, 1979. Nitish was clearly referring to Thakur’s second term in office which lasted lesser than two years.It is pertinent to recall the circumstances in which Thakur had to quit as the chief minister in 1979. Karpoori Thakur headed the Janata Party government. Back then, the Janata Party was an amalgamation of two political groups – the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh rooted to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Lok Dal rooted to the socialist school of Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan, under the broader umbrella of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhimrao Ambedkar’s philosophies.Also read: After Print Media, Nitish Govt Want to Control Social Media Too: Bihar OppositionKarpoori Thakur – who was the leader of the Lok Dal group – implemented 33% reservation for the backward classes in government jobs in Bihar. In a way, what Karpoori did in Bihar way back in 1978 is what the V.P. Singh-led government did by implementing the Mandal Commission report at an all-India level in 1990.Karpoori Thakur. Photo: Twitter/@IrfanUllahAnsKarpoori’s decision fuelled unrest among the ‘upper’ castes. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh group of the Janata Party revolted against Thakur’s decision and its leader, Kailashpati Mishra, was then finance minister under the Thakur-led government. Mishra orchestrated the departure of his group from the Karpoori government in April 1979.The Jan Sangh group propped up another socialist leader, Ram Sunder Das, and joined the Das government, says Patna-based veteran journalist, Surendra Kishore, who covered the proceedings of the Bihar legislature in 1970s.Also read: How Nitish Kumar Used a ‘Crisis’ in Arunachal as a Bargaining Chip Against the BJPNitish followed in Karpoori’s footstepsThe first decision that Nitish Kumar took after taking over as the Bihar chief minister in 2005 was to implement the Karpoori formula in the context of the reservation of jobs in Bihar. Thakur had divided the backward castes into Annexure 1 (relatively more backward) and Annexure 2 (relatively less backward).Nitish divided the backward castes into two groups – extremely backward class (EBC) and other backward class (OBC), reserving 18% and 12% of the government jobs, respectively, for them. Besides, he created a separate quota for backward women, reserving 3% of the jobs for them. He also reserved 50% of the panchayat body seats for women.RSS-BJP’s opposition to quotaThe RSS, which fathered the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and later the BJP, has never supported the policy of the “preferential treatment” to the deprived sections as propounded by Ram Manohar Lohia. Though the RSS-BJS-BJP group has worked with socialist forces to increase their political space, they have always been ambivalent on the “preferential treatment” to the weaker sections.It is, apparently, because the RSS-BJP traditionally has had upper castes as its core support base which has been at war with the weaker castes in the Hindi heartland since time immemorial. In fact, V.P. Singh had implemented the Mandal Commission to consolidate the backward classes against the L.K. Advani-led BJP undertaking rath yatra to build public opinion against the Babri mosque then.Lalu Prasad Yadav forcefully implemented the Mandal Commission report in the 1990s, reaping the good harvest of backward class consolidation, and dissipating the impact of the Advani-led Ram Mandir ‘movement’ in Bihar at that stage of history.Also read: What Led to Nitish’s Outbursts Against Tejashwi in the Bihar Assembly?BJP lay low till it emerged ‘big brother’Though the top echelon of the RSS voiced their reservations against “preferential treatment” to the weaker sections from time to time and some fringe elements of the BJP that included the likes of Giriraj Singh and Ashwini Choubey in Bihar descended on streets against reservation, the BJP as a party was lying low till Nitish’s JD(U) had the upper hand in terms of the number of MLAs.How the RSS was fundamentally opposed to the reservation policy came to the fore when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat advocated for “reconsideration” of the quota policy in 2015. At that time, Nitish’s JD(U) had joined the RJD-JD(U)-Congress mahagathbandhan and its charismatic leader Lalu Prasad turned Bhagwat’s stand as the big issue against the BJP.In fact, Nitish and Lalu were on the same page painting Bhagwat and his RSS as “anti-backward” and turning the tide on the BJP in 2015 elections.Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar during a rally in Hajipur of Bihar on Aug 11, 2014. (Photo: IANS)In 2017, too, when Nitish got back to the BJP fold, the JD(U) had 70 MLAs against the BJP’s 53. But the 2020 elections have, for the first time, given upper hand to the BJP over the JD(U) – the BJP has 74 MLAs against JD(U)’s 73. Obviously, the saffron party under the aggressive leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is flexing its muscles against Nitish.Hard for BJP to play ‘Karpoori’ on NitishOf course, Nitish’s “fear” that he might be removed as the chief minister midway reflects his frustration and also the widening rift between the JD(U) and the BJP. On previous occasions too, Nitish has indirectly blamed the BJP for hindering the smooth sail of the JD(U)-BJP government in Bihar.For instance, he held the BJP responsible for the delay in the much needed expansion of his council of ministers. Many senior leaders of the JD(U) at their state executive meeting a few weeks ago squarely blamed the BJP for “propping up” the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief, Chirag Paswan, to weaken the JD(U) in 2020 elections.Still, the BJP can ill-afford to play a Karpoori on Nitish. Despite the BJP has 74 MLAs, it can’t have a government of its own. Moreover, Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is the single largest party with 75 MLAs and if the BJP suffocates Nitish beyond a point, he might join the RJD-led mahagathbandhan making it virtually impossible for the BJP to operate in the complex caste-based society of Bihar in the subsequent elections to follow.A clever operator, Nitish has hinted that he “might be removed as the chief minister midway” to shift the blame on the BJP in case he decides to dump it, though it is too early to predict if at all he will dump the BJP so soon.Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author and professor of journalism and mass communications at Invertis University, Bareilly.
