Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is apparently trying to gain more than what his Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Arunachal Pradesh, at least, in terms of getting more ministers and MLCs in his cabinet, if not in terms of regaining the party’s credentials and appeal.The JD(U) was reduced to just 43 seats in the assembly, against the BJP’s 74. The saffron party swiftly stripped Nitish’s party of the assembly speaker’s post and got two deputy chief ministers to replace Sushil Kumar Modi, with whom Nitish had a comfortable equation. The BJP – the largest component in Bihar’s NDA – silently communicated to Nitish that it (BJP) will have ministers in proportion to its strength in relation to other partners. Reduced to the role of ‘younger brother’, Nitish had little option but to acquiesce.With six of the seven JD(U) MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh switching sides to the BJP has come as a “boon in disguise” rather than any meaningful loss to the party. The legislators who joined the BJP were Talem Taboh from the Rumgong assembly constituency, Hayeng Mangfi (Chayang Tajo), Jikke Tako (Tali), Dorjee Wangdi Kharma (Kalaktang), Dongru Siongju (Bomdila) and Kanggong Taku (Mariyang-Geku).Padi Richo, former Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president, told The Wire that the JD(U) does not have any grassroots presence in Arunachal Pradesh. He added that it is not a factor in the minds of the electorate.“All these six MLAs who joined the BJP were originally Congressmen. They shifted to the People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, when the BJP-led Centre dismissed the Nabam Tuki Congress government, which had 44 MLAs in the 60-member Arunachal assembly in a dubious manner. Subsequently, the BJP indulged in horse-trading on a huge scale, getting all the Congress MLAs except the CM to join the PPA. These PPA MLAs were later made to join the BJP. All the six MLAs who failed to secure BJP’s or Congress’s tickets in 2019 contested the polls on the JD(U)’s ticket. The JD(U) hardly maintains its separate identity in Arunachal Pradesh as it fully supports the programmes and policies of the BJP,” Richo saidOne of the MLAs who has joined the BJP also agreed with Richo’s assertions. Speaking to The Wire under the condition of anonymity, the MLA said, “Technically we had won on the JD(U)’s symbol but the party hardly exists at the grassroots level in Arunachal Pradesh. Its leader and Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar is not even discussed in the state. Moreover, the JD(U) is just an appendage of the BJP in our state. What is the need to have two parties which adopt the same policy and ideology?”Flags of Janata Dal (United). Photo: PTIUsing it to his advantageHowever, Nitish has once again lived up to his reputation of employing “tact” and “guile” by using the developments in Arunachal Pradesh as a bargaining chip. He got himself replaced as the JD(U) president by his trusted protégé, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh. He was silent on the BJP using the bogey of “love jihad” to polarise the voters on communal lines, which also benefitted the JD(U) in the assembly elections. But suddenly, his party’s secretary-general, K.C. Tyagi spoke against the “love jihad” laws passed by some BJP governments and condemned the BJP for overseeing the defection of six of the JD(U) MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh.While Tyagi, Singh and Bihar JD(U) chief Basishtha Narayan Singh made public statements which created the perception that Nitish was “hurt” at the BJP’s action in Arunachal, Nitish remained silent. However, he communicated to the BJP high command through his interlocutors that he would settle for a “50:50” formula for the expansion of his council of ministers, and also for elections to the 12 vacancies of MLCs in the state legislative council.Also Read: How BJP Influenced Nitish Kumar’s Sudden Transfer of Power to ‘RCP’Sources in Bihar’s ruling establishment have revealed that the BJP high command – with the elections in West Bengal occupying its mind – has agreed to Nitish’s demand to expand the cabinet on a 50:50 basis with the JD(U) and let Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAMS and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP have one minister each. The grapevine has it that the state’s council of ministers would be expanded on this formula after Makarsankranti on January 15.Bihar Congress’s working president, Samir Kumar Singh said that Nitish may have won this battle, but said there is no way he can “resurrect” his socialist, secular and constitutionalist image. “He shared the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ during campaign rallies. He was silent when Yogi Adityanath used ‘love jihad’ and the NRC to intimidate the Muslims in the state as it benefitted his party’s candidates,” said the Singh.The fact remains that the RSS-BJP has been working meticulously to make inroads in the extremely backward classes (EBCs) in Bihar – believed to be Nitish’s primary support base – at the grassroots level. The saffron party has long-term plans to “appropriate” Nitish’s JD(U), which has become vulnerable after its poor show in the November elections. And as of now, he is not “wanted” in the opposition’s ‘grand alliance’ either. The leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly, Tejaswhi Yadav, categorically said on Friday, “There is no room whatsoever for Nitish Kumar in the grand alliance.”Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author and professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at Invertis University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
