JD(U)-BJP split on the cards? Why Nitish Kumar has earned the moniker of ‘Paltu Ram’ in politics
JD(U)-BJP split on the cards? Why Nitish Kumar has earned the moniker of ‘Paltu Ram’ in politics
Will he or won’t he? That seems to be the question everyone is asking when it comes to Nitish Kumar and him separating from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance in Bihar.
All eyes are now trained on the meetings called by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal(United) and the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), of their respective legislators, which have triggered speculations of seismic political developments in the state.
JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi asserted that there was no question of any kind of division or split within the party. “Nitish Kumar is the undisputed leader of the JD(U). He commands respect in the rank and file of the party.
Therefore, there is no question of any kind of split in the party. Whatever decision is taken by the party under Nitish Kumar's leadership will be accepted by everyone,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
Since Sunday, buzz of an imminent split between the two parties — the JD(U) and the BJP — has been growing louder when Nitish Kumar skipped the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. This was the fourth such meet that Nitish Kumar skipped, prompting one and all to question the relations between the two old allies.
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Explained: Does the growing rift between BJP and JD(U) mean a split is inevitable in Bihar?
Can Nitish Kumar hold on to power in Bihar if the JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP comes to an end?
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In fact, the speculation of a split grew even louder when the RJD said they were ready to embrace Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his JD(U) if he broke ranks with the BJP. “If Nitish chooses to dump National Democratic Alliance (NDA), what choice do we have except to embrace him (‘gale lagaenge’). RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the chief minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along,” said RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary.
While Nitish Kumar’s decision may change the political scenario in the state of Bihar, many political pundits and observers note that it won’t be surprising. After all, in a career spanning four decades, the JD(U) chief has turned on his allies and changed partners as many as four times, earning him the moniker of ‘Paltu Ram’ — a name given by Lalu Prasad, his one-time ally.
Walking out on ‘bade bhai’
Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav met each other in their student days and became comrades-in-arms in Jayprakash Narayan’s agitation. Those days, Nitish would call Lalu his ‘bade bhai’ (elder brother).
In March of 1990, Nitish played an instrumental role in helping his senior, Lalu Prasad, to become chief minister of the state.
However, in 1994, he rebelled against Lalu Yadav’s control of the Janata Dal in Bihar. He allied with veteran socialist leader George Fernandes to form the Samata Party. In 2003, the George Fernandes-led Samata Party and the Sharad Yadav-led Janata Dal (United) merged.
Ending ties with BJP
After Nitish went his separate way from Lalu, they became political rivals, pushing the JD(U) chief towards the BJP.
In 1998, the JD(U) and the BJP alliance was born with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the chairman. Nitish held both, Vajpayee and LK Advani, in high regard.
However, this alliance, which seemed unshakeable, crumbled in 2013 after 13-years after Narendra Modi was appointed as the chairman of the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign committee.
At the time, Nitish had said that the split came as he believed that the NDA should have a leader with a “clean and secular image”.
After walking out of the NDA then, Nitish had given a call for “Sangh-mukt Bharat”. Nitish had also gone on to declare that “mitti mein mil jayenge, BJP ke saath wapas nahi jayenge (I would prefer to be reduced to dust rather than going back to BJP)”.
'Everybody knows that in your (Nitish’s) political career you took help of so many people and deserted many'
Splitsville for Mahagathbandhan
In the run-up to the November 2015 elections to the 243-member state Assembly, Nitish joined hands with the arch rival Lalu Prasad-led RJD and the Congress and some other smaller parties to form a ‘Grand Alliance’ which won 178 seats, with Nitish again taking over as the chief minister.
The honeymoon ended for the two friends-turned-foes-turned-friends when differences between them started to emerge. In 2017, the ties worsened when the CBI conducted raids at Lalu’s premises in an alleged IRCTC scam in which the then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu’s son, was also named as one of the accused for allegedly being a beneficiary of the land transfers from the RJD supporters for railway jobs.
When Nitish demanded for an explanation from his deputy, the RJD saw it as a means to embarrass the party.
Listening to ‘the call of his soul’, Nitish Kumar then decided to return to the NDA fold. As the Indian Express reports, Nitish made one final call to Lalu to inform him about his decision. A stunned Lalu could tell him nothing except, with resignation, that “So you are going.”
After stepping out of the Mahagathbandhan, Nitish then joined hands with the NDA again and formed the government with BJP’s Sushil Modi as his deputy.
The RJD supremo, Lalu, saw Kumar’s acts as a betrayal” and held him responsible for the disintegration of the Grand Alliance of RJD, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and Congress for personal gains.
“Tejashwi was just an excuse... Match was fixed between him and BJP to form a government together,” Prasad was quoted as saying.
“Even if Tejashwi had tendered his resignation, he (Kumar) would have gone ahead with his plan to split the alliance.”
Accusing Kumar of being an “opportunist” politician, the RJD chief called him “Paltu Ram” (turncoat). “Everybody knows that in your (Nitish’s) political career you took help of so many people and deserted many.”
“Say truthfully, isn’t it a fact that you (Kumar) had come to my house with folded hands to join forces for the 2015 Bihar poll and pleaded that now we have grown old so give me (Kumar) one term ... But after he saw Tejashwi doing good work, he tried to make him a sacrificial goat to have several terms as CM,” he said.
Tenuous NDA ties
After his return to the NDA fold, it appeared that all was well. However, cracks emerged during the 2020 Assembly polls, when the BJP was in two minds about declaring Nitish as the chief ministerial candidate again and on contesting equal number of seats.
Ties continued to remain fraught even after the alliance won the polls — they have had differing views on multiple issues, including the proposal for population control, caste census, demand for special category status for Bihar, and the denial of Central university status to the Patna University.
Now, only time will tell if Nitish Kumar will do another volte-face.
With inputs from agencies
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