After the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case, Nitish Kumar stood firmly behind him. “He has done phenomenal development work in Delhi,” the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] said, adding that the BJP was going after him because the oppposition is uniting against the Narendra Modi government in the lead up to the 2024 general election.The Bihar chief minister has made progress with his Delhi counterpart in the context of the opposition unity that cannot be underestimated. There is no love lost between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. Even optimists among the opposition’s ranks felt nothing can bringing these parties together.But there was a change in Kejriwal’s tone after he met Nitish and his deputy Tejaswhi Yadav met the AAP leader on April 13. The top Bihar ministers’ meeting with Kejriwal came after they met Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on April 12. Kejriwal, speaking to the press after the meet, said, “Nitishji is making efforts towards uniting everyone and the opposition parties. I am completely with him.” He added that it was “extremely necessary” for the entire opposition and the country to “come together and change the government at the Centre”.Ever since Nitish dumped the BJP and joined the Mahagathbandhan, he has accepted the centrality of the Congress in any opposition alliance against the BJP. He has steadfastly rejected the very idea of opposition front without the Congress. So, when Kejriwal – who has been active in politics for a decade and is the head of a party that is in power in two states – says he is “completely with” Nitish, it means he has to ally with the Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.And Nitish, while describing the CBI’s action against Kejriwal as the “BJP’s machination”, told reporters at Patna, “We are already in the process…. We will strike an agreement on every seat. We will tell you everything as the process progresses.”Needless to say, Nitish is passionately taking forward the opposition’s “Mission Unity”.Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav meet Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders. Photo: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwalRejects prime ministerial ambitionsAfter his three-day sojourn in Delhi, when Nitish landed at the JD(U) office in Patna on April 14, his party workers showered rose petals on him and shouted excitedly, “Desh ka PM kaisa ho, Nitish Kumar jaisa ho (Nitish Kumar should be prime minister of the country).”Nitish folded his hands before his workers requesting, “Don’t raise such a slogan. I am not in the race for the prime minister. I am working to unite opposition parties.” Nevertheless, his party workers raised similar slogans at least thrice and each time, Nitish has dissuaded them.Does it mean that Nitish is devoid of prime ministerial ambitions? No. Senior journalist and Congress expert Rasheed Kidwai in his column in the Deccan Herald on April 14 argued that if the BJP is dethroned, the post of prime minister could be up for grabs for any party or group that has the support of over 30 MPs. Rahul Gandhi – Rasheed argues – would rule himself out of the contest if the Congress does not win half of the majority mark – i.e., 135-140 seats against the majority mark of 273 in the 544-member Lok Sabha.In that situation, several other regional heads might throw their hat in the ring. Among the present crop of the regional satraps, Nitish has the most pedigree. He has been the chief minister of Bihar for over 17 years. A six time MP, Nitish has served as a Union minister in the A.B. Vajpayee cabinet. Plus, as the anchor of opposition unity, Nitish will emerge as the tallest leader among the oppsition in the post-poll scenario in the event of the BJP sliding below the majority mark.So Nitish doesn’t seem to be too worried about the PM post. Of course, he wished to perform a similar role during 2015-2017, when he was part of the Mahagathbandhan that roundly trounced the BJP in Bihar in 2015. But the Congress’s refusal to make concessions was among the reasons he left the Mahagathbandhan and went back to the BJP. With the Congress now signalling to him, Nitish appears happy to deal with Kejriwal and others who could be PM contenders in the post-poll scenario.To Nitish’s advantage, he has worked with Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu and other regional leader when they were part of the NDA. Given his experience and also the capability to negotiate through intricate political complications, Nitish seems to be a perfect leader for the role.Tejashwi Yadav, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Nitish Kumar address the press after their meeting on April 12, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@RJDforIndiaUttar Pradesh will be Nitish’s biggest challengeNitish is supposed to coordinate primarily with leaders of regional parties who see the Congress as a rival in their respective states. These include K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (Telangana), Kejriwal’s AAP (Delhi and Punjab), Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress (Andhra Pradesh), Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (West Bengal). But the complexities are political in nature and there are several precedents of parties with conflicting interests coming together. It happened in 1977 and 1989, when parties like the Jan Sangh, Socialist and Communists parties and the BJP came together. Therefore, Nitish will be confident that he could make an alliance work.But Uttar Pradesh offers a different challenge for Nitish. The first challenge is to improve relations between the Congress and the Samajvadi Party – and, if possible, bring the Bahujan Samaj Party on board. Even if Nitish succeeds here, there is the challenge of dealing with the militant Hindutva that appears to have taken sway over Yogi Adityanath’s governance apparatus and the UP police set up.The murder of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf by three youths is being interpreted in political and police circles as the part of the Hindu supremacists’ larger design to foster extreme hate among the Hindus against the minorities in the run up to 2024 elections. One of the shooters’ Facebook account says he was a Bajrang Dal activist. Others too are suspected of having links to the hydra-headed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).UP is crucial to the BJP – the state elected 62 BJP MPs out of 80 in the 2019 polls. And unlike in Bihar, the BJP has already gained sway over several non-Yadav backward castes and non-Jatav Dalits in UP. Now, the RSS through its wings – Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Durga Vahini and others – wants to radicalise the youth to help the BJP in the 2024 polls.A journalism and mass communication professor from Godda, Afaq Ahmad, said, “There is complete polarisation on Hindu-Muslim lines in UP. The killing of Atiq Ahmed has sharpened the polarisation. UP has become as strong a BJP bastion as Gujarat.”While Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish have been successful in preventing the RSS from gaining a foothold in Bihar, UP presents a different scenario. The Bihar chief minister might find it hard to re-establish harmonious relations among Hindus and Muslims, which will be of utmost importance to defeating the BJP in the heartland state.Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, media educator and independent researcher in social anthropology.