Rumblings within Bihar NDA resurface over tussle for 'Big Brother' tag

48 hours after the LS results, Kumar expanded his own ministry, inducting eight members from the JD (U) and offering the BJP one berth in a move seen as a tit-for-tat response to the national party

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a grand Iftar party on May 28 at his official residence in Patna. People were congratulating him on the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) spectacular performance in the recently concluded general election, in which the coalition bagged 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
 
The question on everyone's mind, however, was how many central ministerial berths Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) — which won 16 seats in the election — would get. The party, earlier in the day, had decided to join the Modi government. The news was doing rounds that Kumar was eyeing two Cabinet and one minister of state berths in the new government. When asked, a visibly happy Kumar told reporters to “not to worry about it”.

 
Less than 12 hours later, Kumar was in New Delhi and himself worrying about it — the national party had offered just a single berth to the JD (U) in the name of “symbolic representation”. Kumar, who was hoping for “proportional participation”, refused to join the government and returned to Patna.
 

“BJP President Amit Shah proposed symbolic participation of the allies in the new government. We discussed the BJP’s proposal with leaders of our party, who didn’t agree to it,” he told reporters. He scotched any chances of the JD (U) joining the government in the near future. “There is no need to participate in the government right now.”  

 
“The votes the NDA got belonged to the people of Bihar and it was not in the name of any individual,” said Kumar in an obvious reference to the BJP’s claim about the mandate being in the name of PM Narendra Modi.
 
Just 48 hours later, Kumar expanded his own ministry, inducting eight members from the JD (U) and offering the BJP one berth in a move seen as a tit-for-tat response to the national party.  The BJP refused, even as Kumar denied speculation about a possible rift between the two biggest alliance partners of the NDA in Bihar. “The expansion was long overdue. It was done after consultation with our allies. There is no rift,” he said.

 
However, there are few takers for his clarification. The timing of the Cabinet expansion has set tongues wagging in political corridors. Is Kumar once again getting ready to change his stripes?
 
“After the debacle in Delhi, Kumar had to send a strong message to the BJP. To keep up the morale of the JD (U)’s leaders and workers, Kumar needed to show that he would not be cowed down by the BJP,” a JD (U) minister said.
 
Another senior party leader said: “Our voters are not vocals like others, but they vote overwhelmingly. Apart from Modi’s name, Kumar’s work in Bihar paved the way for this spectacular victory of the NDA.”

 
The BJP hasn’t issued any statement in the matter nor allowed any of its leaders to speak. But its leaders are not happy with Kumar’s public statements. “Kumar asked for votes in the name of Modi and achievements of the Modi government and now terming it the victory of the NDA. We have offered ‘symbolic representation’ to all of our allies, even those which won more seats than the JD (U), like the Shiv Sena, and all of them accepted the offer. Why is the JD(U) a fuss?" said a BJP functionary.
 
“It’s hard to trust him. He had said that the alliance was unbreakable at the beginning of 2013 and then broke away from the NDA in June that year. Similarly, he also announced that he would stick to the grand alliance in 2017 and by the end of July, he once again switched sides,” said another BJP leader.

 
Sensing an opportunity, Rabri Devi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) acting president and former CM, said that her party would “welcome” Kumar back if he decided to leave the NDA. RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that the BJP would continue to “humiliate and insult” Kumar in the days to come. RJD sources say after the drubbing in the recent polls, party leaders are ready to sign on any condition that the Bihar CM dictates. Kumar, so far, has maintained a stony silence over the matter.
 
Political pundits, however, consider Kumar’s stiff stance as posturing before the Bihar Assembly election, which is scheduled later next year.  Many also think it is a way to prove his dominance in the state as there is a growing demand from within the BJP for an equal footing in state affairs. “The BJP and the JD (U) decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls as equal partners after a long conflict over the ‘big-brother’ tag. The BJP won all 17 seats it contested, while the JD (U) won 16 seats. Imagine what would happen if they contest on an equal number of seats in the Assembly election and the BJP wins more seats than the JD (U). Do you think that this resurgent BJP would accept Kumar’s claim over the chief ministerial position?” asked a senior bureaucrat from Bihar.

 
“Kumar wants the ‘Big Brother’ role in the Assembly election and he wants to keep the BJP in check. Given the performance of the RJD in the Lok Sabha polls and his own experience with Lalu Prasad’s family, there is little chance that Kumar would go back to the grand alliance. He, however, doesn’t want the BJP to take him for granted and dictate terms to him,” said a close aide of the Bihar CM.