JOIN USIf Nitish is on slippery ground, he himself is to blame
Two incidents in the past two days provide a glimpse of how fast the winds of change have begun blowing in this part of the cow-belt.
First, a senior Minister in the Nitish regime, Maheshwar Hazari, was stopped, booed and forced to return while he was campaigning in his constituency Kalyanpur in Samastipur district. “Just go back. Don’t show your face till roads are constructed. ‘Road nahi, toh vote nahi’ (No roads, no vote),” shouted the angry voters of Kalyanpur. The minister from Nitish’s outfit JD (U) had to beat a hasty retreat.
The second incident was more embarrassing when some aggrieved persons, listening to Nitish’s speech at a rally in Aurangabad, shouted at the Bihar Chief Minister, using unparliamentary words. As the cops apprehended one of them, Nitish asked the police, “Don’t beat him. Set him free.”
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Deep within, the Bihar Chief Minister knows there is a simmering discontent against his regime in general and Nitish in particular. But he has himself to be blame for this unfavourable situation.
“More than show-casing of what he has done for Bihar in the last 15 years, he is harping on the same old theme – Lalu-Rabri Jungle Raj. The voters want to know if Lalu and Rabri were so bad, why did he join hands with them in 2015? Was he then not aware of their regime? Why did he have ‘tilak’ applied on his forehead by Rabri Devi every Makar-Sankranti and seek her blessings? Now, he is deriding the same Pati-Patni raj. This shows his rank opportunism,” explained a senior political commentator, associated with a research institute, preferring anonymity.
The angst against Nitish started in March-end after lakhs of migrants started walking home on foot, with Nitish himself disapproving of their return saying “they will spread coronavirus and defeat the purpose of the Covid-19 lockdown.”
When the Chief Minister was recently questioned why he could not help set up industries in Bihar and create employment avenues for those unemployed during the lockdown, he came up with a flimsy excuse that the State was landlocked and devoid of coastal belt. “Bihar agar samundra ke kinare hota, toh log invest karte. (Industrialists would have invested here had Bihar been located near a sea coast),” was one of the irrational logics given by a Chief Minister who has done his graduation (B Tech) in Electrical Engineering from Patna.
“Yet another reason for an ‘unfavourable tide’ is Nitish’s inability to stitch a firm and winnable alliance. By jettisoning the LJP, which commands six per cent votes in every Assembly segment, Nitish erred. And this may cost him dearly. The LJP may not win as many seats but reports suggest it is damaging the JD (U) to the hilt after Chirag fielded his nominees against all Nitish’s candidates,” says veteran journalist Ashok Mishra.
Aware of the fact that the JD (U) is on slippery ground and saffron camp is consolidating due to the LJP factor, the BJP leaders have consoled Nitish umpteen times: “No matter who gets more seats, Nitish will be our CM.”
The JD (U) strongman, a master of somersaults, knows it will be foolhardy to take such ‘consolations’ on face value.