At the time of publishing this report, the BJP held the most seats in the state (Archive)
New Delhi:
Chirag Paswan has played a very wicked game in Bihar, managing to relegate Nitish Kumar and his group to third place in the northern state.
NDTV Election Board analysis shows that if Chirag Paswan had not so enthusiastically opposed Nitish Kumar, the 69-year-old’s fiery ambition for a fourth term as Chief Minister would not be so dependent on the promises made by his ally. , the BJP. .
At the time of publishing this report, the BJP held the most seats in the state. The honors of the runner-up went to his main opponent, Tejashwi Yadav. And Nitish Kumar’s group was in third place, a pale ghostly shadow of their former self.
Polling station scrutiny showed that Nitish Kumar could have been the largest party if all of its candidates had not had to face an opponent of Chirag Paswan’s LJP.
“The BJP seems to have achieved its goal of reducing Nitish Kumar to a junior partner, which was the target of Chirag Paswan’s move,” said Pavan Varma, who was a close associate of Nitish Kumar until he was expelled from his party 10 months ago. . .
That is the opinion of many political experts and critics of the BJP: that it used Chirag Paswan, its ally, as a proxy to devour the land of another ally, Nitish Kumar. With Chirag Paswan serving as a vote cutter, the BJP benefits from a huge role reversal for the first time in their long and not always happy mixer with Nitish Kumar. It has distinctively overshadowed the man who for years swore he would have nothing to do with Narendra Modi, who was then the prime minister of Gujarat. In 2010, Nitish Kumar canceled a dinner in Patna to avoid mixing with Narendra Modi. Today, if he has a chance to become Prime Minister, it is because of the BJP and the indomitable personal appeal of the Prime Minister, which have combined to fill the maximum number of seats in Bihar.
“We will decide tonight on the leadership and formation of the government,” Kailash Vijayvargiya of the BJP told NDTV this morning. If that seemed like a loaded comment, implying that Nitish Kumar may not be chosen as the alliance’s Chief Minister if he does indeed run as the winner, the BJP leader added confusing fine print. “Nitish Kumar will be the prime minister, that was our promise in the polls,” he said.
It is true that the top leaders of the BJP, including the prime minister, declared Nitish Kumar as their presumed chief minister, even after Chirag Paswan made it clear that he would not skimp on trying to harm Nitish Kumar so much that, he promised, the BJP and he would. Form the government without any role for anyone else. The BJP’s assurance that Nitish Kumar would not be benched regardless of the outcome allegedly to come after Nitish Kumar made clear his dislike for Chirag Paswan’s assured target on him, choosing to appear considerably later than scheduled at a joint press conference with the BJP in Patna. .
However, publicly, neither the prime minister nor any BJP leader reproached Chirag Paswan for his stated mission or his forceful attacks on Nitish Kumar. This blatant violation of the coalition’s ethics was seen as proof that the BJP was the permanent guarantor of Chirag Paswan and his wild journey. For his part, Chirag Paswan declared his devotion as “Hanuman to the Prime Minister,” marking a cross on every candidate from Nitish Kumar’s party, and virtually none against the BJP. A labor of love, as he put it.
Nitish Kumar also started his third term because his ally at the time, Lalu Yadav, chose to honor his political prenuptial agreement, that regardless of who won the most seats, Nitish Kumar’s role as chief minister was guaranteed. So this isn’t the first time you’ve come to the table with less negotiating power than your partner. But the fact that this time it was an inside job is sure to thank a man who has long been suspicious of the BJP’s motives.
Results will take until tonight to complete. It is too early to draw conclusions. But based on clues, it seems unlikely that this plot point will change: Nitish Kumar’s greatly diminished stature, his ability to manage a much more powerful BJP, and his reach for a fourth term all bear the stamp of careful collusion. Just what I feared.
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