Why is there so much of brouhaha whenever Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar?
Had any other two chief ministers exchanged pleasantries or given each other a warm hug, no flash bulbs would have popped up or tongues would have continued to wag. But reams of news print have gone into ‘highlighting’ the great handshake, which otherwise would have appeared to be a courtesy greeting.
The latest incident took place at the chief ministers’ meet convened by the Centre to discuss NCTC threadbare at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan last week. While very few took notice of one regional satrap greeting the other, when Modi rushed purposefully to shake hands with Nitish, the cameramen jostled with each other for a photo-opportunity.
This was the second time in the last three years that Nitish was subjected to a ‘hand-grab’ by Modi. The first instance was at Ludhiana in 2008 when during a campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, the JD(U) strongman was cajoled into joining the NDA rally, which also had Modi on the dais. As Nitish climbed the staircase of the podium, a smiling Modi marched towards him, and before Nitish could react, he (Modi) clutched Nitish’s hand and raised it aloft, even as a section of electronic media fell over each other to capture the ‘exclusive shot’ of two rivals.
A year later, the same photograph became a bone of contention between the BJP and the JD(U). During BJP’s national executive meet in Patna, Modi got the photo published as a full page advertisement in local dailies hailing flood relief sent by Gujarat to Bihar. So angry was Nitish that he immediately returned the Rs 5 crore relief cheque to the Gujarat government. Not only this, he cancelled a dinner he had planned to host in honour of Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and others at his official residence the same night.
Secular image
Nitish angst stems from the fact that of all the NDA constituents, he enjoys an unwavering secular image, which he has assiduously cultivated among the Muslims over the years. Any hobnobbing with Modi would not have gone down well with the minority vote-bank in Bihar which Nitish has nurtured after donning the mantle of chief ministership of Bihar. Therefore, under no circumstances he wants to be seen in the company of a man, who has been charged with lording over one of the worst communal riots in the country.
But the last week’s handshake gave out-of-form Lalu Prasad enough ammunition to launch a tirade against his bete noire. “Nitish’s secular credentials have once again come under scrutiny after he shook hands with Narendra Modi in full media glare,” he said. In a quick reply, Nitish said he had done no more than show normal courtesy to a fellow chief minister, but Lalu’s remarks showed that he was “a frustrated man and such comments are borne out of sheer mental bankruptcy.”
The row would have been nipped in the bud but the Bihar Diwas celebration in Gujarat (the very next day) added fuel to the fire and once again brought to fore the rivalry between Nitish and Modi. The function which was organised at Surat and presided over by Modi had a BJP minister from Bihar Ashwani Choubey. He not only sang paeans to Modi but asked him to take over the reigns of the country in 2014 “as the entire 12 crore people in Bihar are with you.”
This infuriated the JD(U) leaders who gave sermons to the saffron camp not to cross the limits. In a damage-control exercise, senior BJP leader and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi doused the flames by terming Choubey’s statement as his ‘personal opinion’.
But that did not assuage the ruffled feathers of the bigger partner in the coalition government being run in Bihar. A senior JD(U) leader close to Nitish summed it up: “The JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP in Bihar will break the day the saffron party projects Modi as the prime-ministerial candidate.”
No wonder, in a House of 243 members, Nitish has increased the JD(U) tally from 115 to 118 by weaning away three out of four LJP MLAs. As of today, he is just short of four legislators (122 members needed for majority) to run a government on its own strength. The BJP should better watch the numbers’ game and keep a tab on the JD(U) strongman’s next move, before it becomes too late.