With a weakened Nitish as CM, BJP firmly in the driver’s seat

On Sunday afternoon, when the NDA meeting began at the official residence of Nitish Kumar – 1, Aney Marg, to elect the NDA Legislature Party leader, the two leaders on his left and right were Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Bihar JD (U) chief Basishtha Narayan Singh, respectively.

Sushil Modi, who, till then, was perceived to be Nitish’s shadow (since he has served as Nitish’s deputy from 2005 to 2020, barring an intervening period of 2013-17), was nowhere in the picture.

An hour later, when Nitish drove down to Raj Bhawan to stake his claim to form the Government, Sushil Modi did not accompany him. This was the first time since 2005 that Modi was not with Nitish while staking claim to form an NDA government.

Track live updates on the Bihar elections here

The BJP top leadership was successful in breaking the ‘Ram-Lakshman jodi’, as Nitish and Sushil Modi are fondly known here. Nitish reportedly did try to bat for Modi by pleading with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the BJP central observer, who was here to ensure ‘bloodless transition of power’ to fresh crop of leaders. But Nitish’s plea failed to cut much ice.

Late in the night, the newly-elected BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) leader Tarkishore Prasad met Nitish at his residence, along with BJP general secretary and in-charge of Bihar affairs, Bhupendra Yadav. At 11 pm on Sunday, it was decided that the BJP will have two Deputy CMs. The saffron camp, which won 74 seats, 31 more than the JD (U)’s tally of 43, will have more ministers too in the Nitish’s Cabinet with plum portfolios.

Follow the latest news on Bihar Assembly Elections here

A weakened Nitish, who has so far played the role of ‘big brother’ ever since NDA stormed to power in 2005, is now facing Newton’s Third Law. “Now, the BJP will arm-twist Nitish and extract its pound of flesh, something which Nitish had been doing so far,” opined noted political scientist Ajay Kumar.

“A concerted attempt was made by the BJP top leadership to weaken Nitish for the last few months. Sadly, Nitish could not read the writing on the wall and got trapped in the well-crafted web,” opined the political observer.