JD(U) meeting likely to define Nitish’s political positioning

New Delhi: Hemming in by his allies in Bihar and within the I.N.D.I.A bloc, the political line fleshed out by Nitish Kumar at the national executive and council meeting of Janata Dal (United) beginning on Friday could well define the Bihar chief minister’s political positioning for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls amidst jostling for leadership of the Opposition bloc.

A senior JD(U) leader told DH that there is a “strong possibility that the party may decide to usher in organisational changes including the replacement of national president Lalan Singh”.

Nitish may either take over the party’s reins or hand it over to a trusted aide.

The change at the top has been triggered by Lalan’s growing proximity to Lalu Yadav’s RJD, the dominant partner in the alliance government, while the chief minister would want to tighten his grip over the party in the election year.

The balance of power in the ruling dispensation is tilted heavily in favour of the RJD which has 79 MLAs vis a vis 45 from the JD(U). As the dominant partner in the alliance, RJD sooner than later would press for an elevation of its leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav.

The current lot of JD(U) lawmakers were elected when the party was in alliance with the BJP. Some may even jump ship, especially those who may find the demography of their constituencies unsuitable for RJD-JD(U) candidates. Moreover, as a major partner in the alliance, RJD will stake a claim over a lion’s share in the seat distribution.

Sources say JD(U) wants to contest at least 17 out of Lok Sabha 40 seats in Bihar and leave the remaining 23 for the RJD, Congress and CPM(ML).

The mounting troubles notwithstanding, a prominent role in the I.N.D.I.A bloc at the national level would have further bolstered Nitish’s position in Bihar and provided him space to explore a larger role in national politics.

After all, it was Nitish who took the initiative to bring all Opposition parties on one platform when he organised the first meeting in Patna earlier this year.

He followed it up with a strong pitch in the caste census.

But Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘jugalbandi’ on floating Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s name as a possible prime minister candidate has squeezed political space for Nitish to manoeuvre out of the current gridlock.  

At present Nitish is at his weakest since taking over as the chief minister of the state in 2004.

Facing the toughest political challenge in his career, the Bihar chief minister has decided to go back to the basics by ringfencing his shrinking territory and taking over control of the party organisation.