Nitish's praise for PC raises eyebrows

A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar profusely thanked Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for proposing in the Union Budget to “evolve new criteria for determining the backwardness of the states and awarding ‘special category’ status”, the rift between the two ruling allies—Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)— appeared to have widened.

Though Nitish maintained that one should not draw “political meaning” in his praise for Chidambaram, top-rung BJP leaders here suspect the JD-U strongman to be a potential ally in the Congress-led UPA post-2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Even though Nitish expressed his “heart-felt gratitude” to Chidambaram, senior BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi termed the Budget “lacklustre, disappointing, inflationary and which had nothing for Bihar.”  

It’s no more a secret that the JD-U and the BJP are not on the same page on many issues. And the reasons for apprehensions at the saffron camp are one too many.
First, Nitish has neither criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor ever joined the BJP chorus when it was gunning for the PM’s scalp over the alleged 2G or coal-gate scam.

The Congress, too, reciprocated the gesture by restraining itself from assailing Nitish regime for the numerous misdeeds in the State. Secondly, Nitish is already overwhelmed by the Centre’s largesse in the form of coal linkage, two central universities and a substantial hike in Plan allocation.

Thirdly, Nitish had last year announced that he would back any government at the Centre which would meet his demand for special status to Bihar. He even met the prime minister and the finance minister and demanded that the parameters for devolution of funds should be based on national average of per capita income and other human development indices.

The fourth major constraint between the two allies of the National Democratic Alliance is the possible anointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate. While top BJP brass are mulling over the next poll strategy, the JD-U in Bihar is also gearing up for any eventuality.

“Our stand is crystal clear. The day Modi’s name is announced, we will sever our ties with the BJP,” a senior party functionary, who did not wish to be identified, said. But he asserted that the government in Bihar “won’t fall.”

“We have 118 members in the House of 243, just four short of a majority on our own (excluding the BJP). There are scores of Independents who will do the needful as and when the time comes,” he asserted.