Bengaluru (Aryavarth): Harivansh Narayan Singh, the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha and a person who owes his political learning under former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, meeting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his official residence on Tuesday has triggered intense trembling in the political circles of Bihar.
This has acquired more significance because it took place at the initiative of Nitish, who took some time out of his busy schedule with JD(U) legislators for assessing ground realiy. Though some JD(U) leaders say that Harivansh on his own called on Nitish, some insider maintained that Singh came down to Patna at Nitish’s calling. However, some senior JD(U) leaders confide that Singh had in fact landed at his residence as the emissary of Narendra Modi.
Nevertheless, Harivansh calling on Nitish has not come as surprise. Almost all the senior leaders of major political parties have their close confidants as operatives in other parties. While they feed their political masters of the developments taking place in that party, they also work as the link between the leaders of two parties. It is worth recalling that after Nitish dumped the BJP last year, he did not ask Harivansh to resign from the post of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. Instead, going against the popular demand, he allowed Singh to continue, indicating that he wanted to keep a channel of communication open with the BJP through him.
Nitish meeting Harivansh has nonetheless triggered speculations in the political circles about his real intentions. Conjectures are expressed that he may have been exploring his opportunity to renew his alliance with the BJP. But the party sources are not in the position to assert their views. Why Nitish, who has a direct channel with Modi, would need Harivansh to argue his case? The meeting has some other implication than what merely meets the eyes.
Some leaders also say that Nitish had summoned him to know about the future moves of the Modi government and Modi’s mind. He wanted to have the detail info about next move of Modi in the matter of CBI chargesheeting Tejashwi — whether he would be arrested. Nitish had promised to crown him as his successor, and perhaps even install him as the chief minister in near future. In this background, Nitish’s efforts to get a suitable berth at the national level should also have to expedited. The united opposition is yet to announce him as the convener or the chairman of the united opposition forum.
Bihar minister and senior Janata Dal-United leader Ashok Chowdhary said that the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman was a party MP and he met the chief minister in the capacity of an MP. “He is a JD-U member of parliament and he met the CM in that capacity only. Nothing more should be read into this,” Chowdhary said. Meanwhile, Harivansh’s office has described the meeting as a “courtesy call” and said that the meeting lasted 15 minutes.
Some sources also try to present the meeting as Nitish sending a message to the opposition parties, especially Congress, to project him as the PM face ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, since the Bihar CM still nurses hopes for it. Interestingly, the development comes ahead of the next meeting of the opposition leaders which is scheduled for July 17-18 in Bengaluru.
Amidst these political developments, Nitish’s former protégé and in the existing situation a strong contender for the office of chief minister, Sushil Modi, has raised the issue of the Bihar CM splitting the JD(U). Only a political knave would give credence to Sushil Modi’s baseless utterances. Why a person having a firm grip on the party apparatus would split the party? Instead, he would walk over with the entire regiment. The apprehensions of a split in Janata Dal United similar to what happened with the NCP in Maharashtra are patently misguided. Besides, there is no leader in JD(U) worth a name who could turn into yet another Ajit Pawar.
The political circuit is also agog with the rumour that Modi has conveyed to Nitish that he would not proceed against Tejashvi and parents, in case Nitish switches his loyalty and help form a NDA government in the state. Nitish is already on record saying, “I will prefer death than again going joining hands with Modi”. However, the close-door meeting between the two leaders, which lasted for about half hour, is extremely crucial as this took place when the politics of state is in a flux.
One thing is clear that refusal of Nitish to observe transparency in his actions has sowed seeds of confusion. It is he who has given rise to wild speculations and apprehensions. Nitish ought to realise that he has lost much of his political credibility amongst the people of Bihar. He has earned the dubious nickname of “Paltu Ram” (a person frequently shifting loyalty). His mysterious silence will also have adverse impact on the efforts for opposition unity. He must come clean.
The political scenario in the state has undergone major change. Bihar is not the Bihar of nineties when the people ridiculed Lalu. He and his son Tejashvi in the prevailing situation have turned out to be a deadly combination. A jailed Lalu and Tejashvi would prove to be more dangerous for their political detractors; in this case, the BJP.
One interesting revelation has been made by a JD(U) leader who said that some senior state BJP leaders at the suggestions of national-level leaders have been busy feeding wrong information. They have been busy creating a situation of uncertainty amongst the party legislatures and MPs by spreading rumour that many sitting JD(U) MPs and MLAs may not get tickets in the upcoming elections. As a BJP partner, Nitish had managed to bargain with the BJP for an equal number of seats in the 2020 Bihar assembly election, but this time, would he be able to get his deserving share from the resurgent RJD, remains the question.
The RJD leaders from Yadav community have been more aggressive. In some areas, they have already launched their campaign even though it’s hardly clear as to when the assembly elections will be held. It is said that those leaders who face the threat of being denied ticket for the forthcoming election are planning to break from the party. Coming out with this revelation, Sushil Modi said Monday: “In Bihar also, an atmosphere of rebellion is building up in the JD(U) since Nitish Kumar announced the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav as his successor and accepted Rahul Gandhi as leader in the next fight.” (IPA Service)
By Arun Srivastava