JD(U) may forge Bihar-type alliance

The war within the Mulayam Singh Yadav family may provide Chief Minister Nitish Kumar an opportunity to forge a Bihar-type experiment in Uttar Pradesh (UP), where all anti-BJP forces may come under one umbrella.

While ridiculing Mulayam, Nitish had recently showered praise on Akhilesh and asked him to be his own man.

“Come out of the family shadow. Take an independent path and the JD(U) will be there to support you,” Nitish had said a few days ago, while addressing the party’s national council meeting in Rajgir.

A source in the Grand Alliance told DH that given the fast changing political developments in UP, chances of a Bihar-type pact where a Samajwadi faction led by Akhilesh, Ajit Singh’s RLD, a faction of Apna Dal (excluding Anupriya Patel), Nitish’s JD(U) and the Congress could reach an understanding and enter into a seat-sharing arrangement.

“Such a possibility cannot be ruled out at this juncture. Nitishji is a much mature leader with a proven track record of good governance. Given his seniority, he could take the initiative to forge a Bihar-type grand alliance and bring all non-BJP parties under one roof. This alliance could be led by Akhilesh, who is still popular among the youth in UP,” the source said.

If this move fructifies, Nitish may kill two birds with one stone. First, he will settle scores with Mulayam, who ditched the JD(U) strongman on the eve of Bihar polls despite the fact that the latter had offered Mulayam the post of president of the proposed Janata Parivar party.

Second, Nitish, as the JD(U) national president, may be making all efforts to spread the party tentacles outside Bihar and thereby present himself as an alternative to Narendra Modi in 2019. But deep within, he too knows his limitations outside Bihar.