Nitish’s Clever Tactics are Likely to Make Lalu Bend to His Will

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called a meeting on Tuesday comprising MPs, MLAs and other office bearers of his party Janata Dal (United) (JDU) to discuss the CBI raids on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and ally Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family.

In the meeting, it was decided that Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) would give Lalu’s RJD four days to make a decision on the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.

"So far, the reply given by them has not been satisfactory. They should come out with factual replies in public," Nitish Kumar was quoted by IANS as telling his party leaders, thus, breaking his silence on Lalu’s younger son. Further, Nitish was quoted by IANS as saying:

I shall not compromise with my principles. I am firm on my resolve of zero tolerance against corruption.

Without naming Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar said a "fact-wise reply" should be given in public by those against whom allegations of corruption had surfaced, according to a report by IANS.

The fact that Nitish has given the RJD an ultimatum shows that he is in action mode. Nitish went on to say that he had always taken action against his own party leaders whenever they were faced with charges of corruption. He was quoted by IANS as saying:

RJD will have to take action against its leader. It is for RJD to act against Tejashwi as he has been named in a FIR by the CBI.

However, Nitish announced that he and the JD(U) would refrain from breaking the Grand Alliance which is made up of three parties, namely the JD (U), RJD and the Congress. Nitish said, according to an IANS report:

Hum gathbandhan todenge nahi... akhri dum tak isse bachane ki koshish karenge. (We will not break the Grand Alliance [...] We will try to save it till the end.)

However, the JD(U)’s growing bond with the BJP may threaten the unity of the Grand Alliance.

Lalu is tense due to the raids that have been conducted on his property by the CBI recently and the FIR against his son Tejashwi on charges of corruption. It is likely that Lalu may have to compromise and make Tejashwi resign.

Nitish’s clever tactics are likely to make Lalu bend to his will.

What will happen if the Grand Alliance breaks? Manipulation politics may begin in Bihar, if the alliance between the three parties doesn’t hold up. Currently, the JD(U) has 71 MLAs; they need 122 seats to get majority. In such a situation, Nitish is likely to side with the BJP.

If the RJD (81 seats) and the Congress (27 seats) want to come together to form the majority, they’ll need 15 seats more. If they do win majority, the bigger question is, for how long will such a government last? The BJP is closely watching out for potential new alliances and it is not easy to replace a leader of Nitish’s calibre.

(With inputs from IANS. This piece was first published in Quint Hindi has been translated from the original)

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