Nitish Kumar, 69, faces multiple challengers in Bihar’s election.
Patna:
Nitish Kumar’s “Sushasan Babu (Mr. Good Governance) “is on the line as he fights for a fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister of Bihar. The heckling at his rallies and the pro-opposition slogans raised on his tours should be of deep concern its campaign managers.
Nitish Kumar, 69, faces multiple challengers in Bihar’s election. A few weeks ago, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would not have imagined so many rivals against the chief minister.
Officially, his main opponent is his former MP Tejashwi Yadav, the joint ministerial leader of the opposition alliance made up of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and three left-wing parties.
Marginal players also rallied against him – Upendra Kushwaha of the RLSP supported by the Bahujan Samaj party of Mayawati (BSP) and AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi; and Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with Chandrasekhar Azad Ravan of Bhim’s army.
But Nitish Kumar’s worst enemy today is the 37-year-old actor turned politician who was his ally for three years until he revolted.
Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti (LJP) party, is leading his first election in Bihar on his own, a big bet that pits him against his own coalition, the NDA. He made it clear that his only agenda was to oust Nitish Kumar and form a government with the BJP.
Nitish Kumar has reason to be concerned about Tejashwi Yadav, who is drawing huge crowds and whose promise of 10 lakh government jobs seems to have resonated more in Bihar than the chief minister would like to admit.
Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti (LJP) party, is leading his first election alone in Bihar.
But Chirag Paswan and his perceived hidden supporters in the BJP have given the chief minister sleepless nights five times.
While traveling through Bihar, the “Parivartan (change) brigade “is visible. These are the BJP workers who believe that Nitish Kumar should go. For them, it’s now or never. They see an opportunity in the revolt of ally-not-ally Chirag Paswan.
According to recorded information, BJP leaders attacked Chirag Paswan, but the party stopped before expelling him from the alliance despite its relentless attacks on Nitish Kumar, who heads the NDA in Bihar.
Union Home Secretary Amit Shah, in two talks in two days, revealed more in what he did not say about him. He expressed his sadness over Chirag Paswan’s decision and said the question of whether Paswan Junior would be inducted into the Union Cabinet – after the recent death of his father Ram Vilas Paswan – would be decided after Bihar polls . The BJP is clearly not releasing him.
Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United leaders are disappointed; the BJP is not above putting rebel allies in their place, but the LJP leader gets away with every insult, every attack on the chief minister – including a threat of prison for corruption.
On the ground, Nitish Kumar and the BJP are campaigning together. BJP leaders even attend nominations and meetings of JDU candidates. BJP MPs like Chedi Paswan and Sushil Singh, who tried to stay away from JDU candidates, lined up after a nudge from management.
These BJP leaders say there is too much anger against Nitish Kumar.
Why is Bihar angry?
Nitish Kumar’s biggest mistake, according to his critics, has been to undermine the coronavirus and the migrant crisis.
His stubborn refusal to bring migrants back to the middle of the lockdown and refusal to provide jobs has become a rallying point not only for Tejashwi Yadav but also for Chirag Paswan. Worse yet, he was MIA during the coronavirus lockdown months when he could have reached out to the masses. He was the only chief minister not to address the people of his state or the media at the time. “Now he is coming out to ask for votes,” Tejashwi Yadav said during his rallies.
On the ground, Nitish Kumar and the BJP are campaigning together. BJP leaders even attend nominations and meetings of JDU candidates.
A badly implemented alcoholic drink ban is also said to have taken off “Sushasan Babu“This resulted in a shadow economy that thrived despite the laws and the cops.
His “Saat Nischay” plan only served to alienate the allies. Despite his talk of zero tolerance for corruption, it is still difficult in Bihar to work without a bribe.
Nitish Kumar’s supporters admit his arrogance doesn’t help. Once among India’s most visible chief ministers, he is now distant and practically reclusive.
Nitish Kumar never contested the national elections except in 1995. He became chief minister when he was an MP, then he resigned. He has always been a member of the Legislative Council of Bihar.
In 2015, a year after the BJP government led by Narendra Modi came to power, the Bihar electoral battle turned into a fight between Nitish Kumar and PM Modi. In 2010, before the JDU left the NDA, he refused to let Mr. Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, campaign for him.
His longtime friend turned political rival, Shivanand Tiwari, said he was done with politics when he resurrected his alliance with the BJP in 2017, four years after leaving Narendra Modi as the prime minister’s choice. NDA.
Prior to that, Nitish Kumar was considered the only man who could compete with Prime Minister Modi. With his sharp image, he also represented the “anti-Lalu Yadav” specter in Bihar.
After the return of the Nitish Kumar-BJP coalition, when Prime Minister Modi rejected the Chief Minister’s request for central status at Patna University, it was clear that the balance of power had shifted.
Nitish Kumar even avoided issuing his own manifesto and continued to talk about the alliance in the 2019 national elections just to keep Prime Minister Modi in a good mood, Tiwari said.
Prime Minister Modi in their first rally on Friday targeted opposition criticism of his government’s Section 370 decision, right next to Nitish Kumar, who was initially among those critics and has then changed my mind.
Rallies are not everything, as multiple elections have proven.
BJP leaders admit they are surprised by the crowded Tejashwi Yadav meetings.
Nitish Kumar has reason to be concerned about Tejashwi Yadav, who is drawing huge crowds and whose promise of 10 lakh government jobs seems to have resonated more in Bihar.
Tejashwi’s handling of the Mahagatbandhan opposition and the way he unloaded his deadweight allies Upendra Kushwaha and Mukesh Sahni are cited as evidence that the 31-year-old improved in politics as his father Lalu Yadav served in the purge a prison sentence.
But Tejashwi Yadav’s best-case scenario is still based on the BJP sabotaging their own Chief Minister or Chirag Paswan causing actual damage to Nitish Kumar. This is why the leader of the RJD recently tsk tsk-ed Nitish Kumar “the injustice towards” Chirag Paswan.
The unexpected popularity of Tejashwi’s job promise rocked Nitish Kumar. He recently shouted at a crowd, “Stop talking nonsense. If you don’t want to vote for me, then don’t.”
The men of the chief minister’s party say these are just wrinkles. “Our social base is intact and the NDA is united. The people of Bihar still do not want the return of Lalu-Rabari Raj (the reign of Lalu Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi), which Tejashwi defends ”, declares the head of the JDU. spokesperson Sanjay Singh.
