Nitish Was Never Keen on Playing Second Fiddle to Mulayam

For Nitish Kumar, Mulayam Singh’s exit from the Janata Parivar, strengthens his position in the grand alliance.

Bihar Chief Minister and leader of Janata Dal(United) Nitish Kumar. (Photo: Reuters)

At first glance, it may appear that the decision of Mulayam Singh Yadav to part ways with the proposed Janata Parivar is a huge setback for Bihar chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar in the ensuing assembly polls. But on hindsight, this was in the offing. And the sooner the better for Nitish, who, it is believed, was never very keen on playing second fiddle to Mulayam, particularly after the latter’s controversial statements on Indian women and rape incidents.

A highly articulate, distinct and ambitious politician that Nitish is, the Bihar Chief Minister has always nursed this desire to reposition himself as an alternate to Narendra Modi at the national level. His only handicap is his party, the JD(U), which is a regional outfit with little base outside Bihar. But that does not mean he would be comfortable joining the ranks of other regional satrap like Mulayam, who, like him, has no support base outside his state.

His opponents may argue that if it was so why in the first place did he join hands with Mulayam and proposed his name to head the yet-to-be-born avatar of Janata Parivar. After all, it was the same Mulayam, who, in turn, coaxed Lalu Prasad Yadav to fall in line and accept Nitish as the chief ministerial candidate of the grand alliance when the RJD chief was initially reluctant to do so.

An Ambitious Politician

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. (Photo: PTI) 

Those who know Nitish well, argue that when the efforts to cobble together the Janata Parivar began in early January this year, Nitish was not the Bihar chief minister and Jitan Ram Manjhi was then raising his rebellious head. Nitish only used Mulayam and Lalu to consolidate himself in the state which he had been ruling for the last one decade.

“Nitish’s competence as a leader can’t be questioned. But at the same time, it’s equally true that he has used crutches like V P Singh, Lalu Prasad and George Fernandes to climb the ladder of success before eventually dumping his mentor(s),” argued a noted social scientist, wishing not be identified.

“In the coming days, he will use the Congress too, which has left the opposition space vacuum. Mark my words, if Nitish is able to wrest Bihar, he will throw a serious challenge to Modi. But for doing so, he needs the backing of the grand old party with pan-India presence, not someone like a retrograde Mulayam, who is critical of computer literacy, defends rapists and blames women,” said the political commentator.

“Of late, the way Bihar CM has exposed Narendra Modi on special package issue and countered PM’s allegations with facts and figures goes on to show that one has to be a leader of Nitish’s calibre to challenge Modi’s sham propaganda,” the social scientist said. “

As of now, the BJP may appear to be happy over Mulayam’s parting ways with Lalu and Nitish but it’s equally true that the Samajawadi Party had really no stake in Bihar. The SP had won last here when two of its candidates, out of 243, won the 2005 Assembly elections,” he argued and added, “In a sense it’s a good riddance for Nitish. But there is a subtle message for Lalu too. Given Nitish’s track record, the RJD chief should be wary of being used and abused in the coming days.”

(The writer is a Bihar-based journalist)