- The latest development in the political landscape of Bihar may not be surprising to people closely following the trajectory of Nitish Kumar’s brand of politicking over the years. That the shrewd politician in Nitish never misses an opportunity to cling on to the power games is amply evident by the number of times he has assumed the mantle of Chief Minister by switching sides. The consummate politician that he is, Nitish nonchalantly goes about switching sides without even bothering about the ideologies being bandied about suiting his necessities. From the marriage of convenience with the supposedly communal Bharatiya Janata Party to extending the hands of friendship with the secular Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal comes easy to the satrap.
PC: Sugata Srinivasaraju
- Yes, you may see moral posturing about corruption, women empowerment, job opportunities, and disturbance in communal harmony as some such reasons quoted by the wily politician to break the present alliance and join hands with the opposition. And the saga of switching continues. How could the present situation in Bihar have possible ramifications at the national level? Not much one must say. With the coming together of the Mahaghatbandhan, the opposition may have earned its first political breakthrough in 2022 in its fight against the BJP juggernaut. It has been a year since BJP’s hold over politics has greatly intensified. We know how effectively the BJP’s machinery works overtime to assume power wherever it sits on the opposite benches.
- In recent times, the BJP has won elections in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa, and toppled Maharashtra’s MVA government by engineering a Shiv Sena split. Plus, it has dominated the president and vice-president elections as well. In contrast, Congress has achieved very little to show appearing to be in disarray setting its own house in order rather than synergize energies to take on the BJP. What about other regional satraps nursing ambitions to essay a prominent role nationally? Mamata Banerjee’s sheen from last year’s big victory over BJP has dimmed. Despite the big Punjab win, Arvind Kejriwal and AAP still have a long way to go. Others like Sharad Pawar and K Chandrashekar Rao are bogged down in increasingly desperate turf battles with BJP.
PC: Srishty Choudhury
- Thus, the vacuum in national politics where Congress is unable to project itself as a credible alternative to BJP gains grounds. The real battlegrounds have shifted to state capitals where the saffron party is finding it difficult to breach despite humongous efforts. Conversely, political survival rather than common grounds is dictating the regional satraps to take on the challenges posed by the BJP. As such, victories in state polls are good indicators of morale and funds but aren’t necessarily a presager of national outcomes. Mind you, there’s none in the opposition ranks to match the charisma, popularity, and acceptability of PM Narendra Modi across the cross-section of Indian society. Expect the BJP to go about its election preparations with renewed vigour.
