Patna: In a surprise move on Sunday, Nitish Kumar, Prime Minister of Bihar, resigned as national chairman of Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in favor of Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, erecting a ‘wall’ between the JD (U ) and his ally, the BJP, with Singh as his guardian.
Nitish had been elected national president of JD (U) in 2019 for a three-year term ending in 2022, but instead resigned and proposed RCP (as Singh is widely known) to take over. The measure was approved unanimously by the party’s executive members at their meeting at Nitish’s residence.
Now, the BJP leadership will have to negotiate access to Nitish with the RCP, similar to Nitish’s accession to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Internal Affairs Amit Shah, through JP Nadda, the national president of the BJP.
The radioactive fallout of Arunachal?
Except for Modi and Shah, no one knows the terms on which Nitish suddenly left the Mahagathbandhan (the coalition of anti-BJP parties) two years after he came to power in Bihar in 2015 and allied himself with the BJP. But between 2017 and 2019, Nitish had direct access to the union’s prime minister and interior minister. However, just before the 2020 assembly elections, the BJP started talking to Nitish through Nadda and Bhupendra Yadav, the BJP general secretary and head of Bihar.
File photo of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. Photo: PTI
According to the grapevine, Nitish was “cruelly” distraught over this lack of “trust” on the part of the BJP leadership. So when six members of the Board of Directors in Arunachal Pradesh resigned from the JD (U) and joined the BJP this month, Nitish restructured the party. The executive members of the JD (U) formally adopted a resolution condemning the BJP for dividing the JD (U) in Arunachal Pradesh.
“The division of the JD (U) in Arunachal Pradesh amounts to a serious violation of the coalition spirit dharma,“Said KC Tyagi, secretary general and party spokesman.
Executive members of the party also attacked the BJP’s “love jihad” campaign, which has sharpened the divide between Hindus and Muslims. States ruled by the BJP, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, have already started arresting men from the minority community for marrying Hindu girls.
“Framing young people in the name of ‘love jihad’ is illegal. It has aggravated the atmosphere of hatred in different parts of India. The constitution and laws ensure that consenting male and female adults can choose their partners as they wish, regardless of their religious or caste identity. The JD (U) does not approve of the so-called ‘jihad of love,’ ”Tyagi said, citing the official JD (U) resolution on the matter.
The bottom
The restructuring of the JDU and its resolutions against the BJP are based on the JD (U) belief that the BJP leadership “clandestinely” supported the head of the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), Chirag Paswan, to rebel against the JD (U ) and contest elections against him.
More than 15 stalwart RSS-BJP officials contested the JD (U) nominees at the LJP entrances, leaving JD (U) to win just 43 seats in the 2020 assembly elections. The JD (U) has made it clear that his bad show is due to the LJP rebellion.
After Nitish became Prime Minister of Bihar again, the BJP, with 74 MLA to 43 for the JDU, has blatantly shown that it represents the ‘big brother’ in the JD (U) -BJP alliance. It has not taken any action against the LJP for its rebellion. He has insisted on making Vijay Kumar Sinha the president of the state assembly and has entrusted two deputy ministers, Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, in Nitish without consulting him. Some BJP lawmakers have openly asked Nitish to give BJP the housing portfolio, which has traditionally been with the prime minister.
The extension of the cabinet is pending and Nitish has blamed the BJP for the delay. Sources say the BJP is insisting on “lucrative” portfolios and Nitish is in no mood to “succumb.”
Who is CPR?
Born in 1958, RCP was a cadre officer for the Uttar Pradesh IAS, who served as a district magistrate in several UP districts. Although RCP shares his Kurmi caste and Nalanda hometown with Nitish, his first contact with politics was through UP’s socialist leader Beni Prasad Verma. RCP worked as Verma’s private secretary when the latter was Union minister in the 1990s. Verma apparently introduced RCP to Nitish and Nitish worked with RCP when he became Minister of Railways in the Attal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh. Photo: Facebook.
In 2005, RCP went to Bihar as a deputy and became Nitish’s chief secretary when the latter became the prime minister. RCP had voluntarily retired in 2010 and became a JD (U) member of parliament in Rajya Sabha. Nitish renewed the RCP mandate for Rajya Sabha in 2016. Prior to becoming JD (U) national chair, the RCP had been the party’s general secretary (organization). Although known for its “knowledge” of politics, the RCP has generally operated as a “faceless” party worker.
Such a leader suits Nitish’s style of operation, who does not like his party chairmen to have ideas of their own. By 2003 Nitish had even replaced the imposing George Fernandes with Sharad Yadav when the former showed a “proclivity” to differ from Nitish.
Similarly, Nitish became president of JD (U) replacing Sharad Yadav before severing ties with Mahagathbandhan and returning to the BJP in 2017. A low-key operator, RCP is Nitish’s loyal protégé.
Possible consequences
While it is premature to predict the long-term consequences of “heartburn” in the JD (U) -BJP ratio, the fact, however, remains that it is now in sight. Now, Nadda and Bhupendra Yadav from the BJP will have to speak to Nitish through RCP, particularly on political and political issues.
Tyagi, speaking on behalf of his party, said: “The JD (U) has decided to participate in the assembly elections in Bengal. The national president of the party has been authorized to find out with whom the party should ally (sic) ”.
Now it appears that the JDU has opened up to options beyond the NDA in states beyond Bihar.
Nalin Verma is a senior journalist and author of From Gopalganj to Raisina – My Political Journey, an autobiography of Lalu Prasad Yadav. He has also written The best folk tales of Bihar.
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