BJP Needs Nitish Kumar Now
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2020-10-06 11:37:23
About the Author
Chirag Paswan of the LJP has left the NDA in Bihar while continuing to be a part of the alliance at the Centre. He has decided to contest against Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in the ensuing state elections while announcing that candidates will not be put up from constituencies allotted to the BJP. This has pitted Paswan directly against Nitish Kumar. Given the dispute between the two parties and the regular criticism of the chief minister by both Chirag and Ram Bilas Paswan, this is not something that is of much importance. LJP has been marginalized in Bihar and it cannot count even on the full support of the Paswan community.
Hence, observers are reading some secret political maneuver in this action by Chirag Paswan. They say that this an attempt by the BJP to slowly sideline Nitish Kumar. That could also be true. There has always been a group in Bihar BJP, and also at the high command, that favours going solo in the state. But, despite the state of the opposition, one feels that the time has not come for the BJP to divorce Nitish Kumar. Kumar's following, especially among women, has not gone down despite his recent blunders in mishandling the pandemic and the migrant workers' situation.
The BJP needs the JD(U) and even though the LJP seems a spent force, it needs the Paswan votes too. Alone, the BJP will be branded as the party of the higher castes and the wealthy traders. In a state like Bihar where caste calculations matter on each seat, the BJP cannot yet risk going it alone. For, if it leaves the JD(U), there is a chance that the Mahagathbandhan may revive. The BJP got slightly over 24 percent of the votes against the Mahagathbandhan in 2015. If it had more than 30 percent of the votes, it could have taken the risk. But in the present scenario, it is better for it to stick with the JD(U).
