NewsDrum Informals: Will Nitish do another switch or is it just pressure tactics?

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New Delhi: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is once again keeping everyone guessing about his next move.

For some time now, rumours are doing the rounds in Bihar that Kumar is going to do another political somersault before the assembly elections, scheduled to be held in October-November this year.

No other Indian politician has mastered this art of remaining in power by changing partners except Kumar whose support base of Kurmis is merely 2% of Bihar's population.

Kumar's Janata Dal (United) dumped the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in January 2024 to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he had abandoned in August 2022. That was the fourth time Kumar had switched political partners since 2013.

After having snapped his 17-year-old ties with the BJP in 2013, Kumar had vowed that he would never ever go back and revive his alliance with the saffron party. Four years later in 2017, Kumar had no qualms about once again joining hands with the BJP after he decided to dump the 'mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance, also comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress apart from his Janata Dal (United).

That time again, he promised to have no truck with the RJD, a party led by his arch-rival in Bihar politics Lalu Prasad. The two socialist leaders - Kumar and Prasad - were once together in the erstwhile Janata Dal.

Cut to 2022, Kumar was back with the RJD and going all guns blazing against the BJP for allegedly trying to split his party like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Such frequent switches have earned him the sobriquet of 'Paltu Ram' (turncoat) of Bihar politics.

For Kumar, switching alliances is not a big issue anymore. He has not only mastered the art but also normalised such political somersaults.

The interesting part is that neither Kumar nor any of his party colleagues had so far denied these rumours. 

Some say this is Kumar's pressure tactics. He wants to force the BJP to accept his formula for seat sharing. 

Apart from the JD(U) and the BJP, the other constituents in the ruling NDA in Bihar are the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of Chirag Paswan, Hindustan Awami Morcha of Jitin Ram Manjhi and Rashtriya Lok Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha. The BJP will have to really work hard to do a fine balancing act to keep the NDA together in Bihar.

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The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Congress leaders these days are heard singing only one chorus - that the Udaipur resolution should be followed in letter and spirit.

So, what is a significant part of the Udaipur declaration that these Congress leaders repeatedly remind their leadership?

It says that a party office-bearer, who has been occupying a post for five years or more, will have to step down and undergo a "cooling period" of at least three years before taking up the same position again.

Well, their intention may be good but the target is obvious. They want Rahul Gandhi to remove party general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal from the post and appoint someone from North India in his place. But the big question remains - is Rahul Gandhi ready to listen?