Implosion of Mahagatbandhan in Bihar

Prof N.K. Singh

Former Chairman International Airports Authority of India

Dramatic exit of Nitish Kumar in Bihar and soon joining hands with the BJP to form government in a swift move, have left the political pundits aghast. A man who was being touted all the time as an alternative to Narendra Modi has imploded so swiftly that it is difficult for the opposition to even to calibrate its strategy to cope with the cataclysm. Those who are shocked need to recall the events of elections and government formation when Nitish bitterly fought against the BJP. No one at that time could imagine that there could be status quo ante.

Nitish left his earlier associates and joined Lalu brigade only out of fear of rising Modi. Earlier he and Sushil Modi jelled and Bihar was gradually improving in development data but sudden rise of Modi upset the applecart. It was true that massive public opinion in his favour as an alternative to Modi had virtually brainwashed him.

Nitish left his earlier associates and joined Lalu brigade only out of fear of rising Modi. Earlier he and Sushil Modi jelled and Bihar was gradually improving in development data but sudden rise of Modi upset the applecart. It was true that massive public opinion in his favour as an alternative to Modi had virtually brainwashed him.

Ambition and greed for power were the driving forces. But his track record and strong opposition to corruption continued to haunt him in spite of his joining a rag tag party where criminals and corrupt had field day. Then why did he come out? There are many reasons for his exit from Mahagatbandhan. No doubt if we study his earlier utterances and political posturing, he was totally anti-Modi but not anti BJP as he had good equation with his earlier partner Sushil Modi.

Narendra Modi with his overwhelming personality and loud commitments drove him to attack his persona. He also feared his communal posture with overtures to leaders of right wing Hinduism. He was afraid that he will lose his secular credentials and lose Muslim constituency, which he had cultivated. His joining Lalu Prasad whom he hated earlier was also a surprise. But due to fear of Modi, he fell into the lap of Lalu Yadav who with his rustic appeal had built mass support.

Lalu had no qualms about corruption or criminals association with his political life. Nitish could not stand this but he compromised with it to beat Modi. His two years with this experiment did not give him solace but continued to tarnish his conscience. Three developments finally spearheaded the death wish to find a separation with his tainted colleagues.

First he soon realized after two years that Modi is honest and basically devoted to the national interest. He felt Modi was not anti-Muslim and changed the RSS Hindutva to new constitutional Hinduism. He practiced Hinduism but within the framework of constitution and treated all religions equally. There was a vast change in this outlook as earlier the policy was to appease the minorities approach Modi threw in trash can. He respected Muslims who were dedicated to the Indian nation and its values. This was a consolation to Nitish who found his secularism coexistent with Modi’s credo.

 Second major change came when he found that Modi is equally committed to the transparency and development, which he too admired. Changes started in his thinking and he articulated it indirectly but the same was noticeable from the other side, when Modi admired his prohibition agenda. We too noticed mild hints of thaw in relationships that had gone sour earlier.

In fact Nitish confessed that he misunderstood Modi and had premonition of his rabid communal actions that did not happen. Nitish appreciated Note bandi as courageous step of Modi when other opposition leaders criticized it. Same was about the GST that proved historic step to usher in what Modi called economic revolution. Both leaders were closing in on sociometric scale. Many noticed this imperceptible changes but no one had the idea that it would be so soon and in this form.

 Third development made it faster. The investigating agencies raided Lalu’s family locations and filed criminal cases against almost his entire family. Earlier, Sushil Modi had prepared enough evidence on the ground against Lalu’s sons especially against the Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav who failed to give satisfactory answer to CM and refused to resign till he is cleared by the agencies. Events that followed are in public domain. And finally after resignation, he took over as CM with the support of BJP to the chagrin of Yadvas.

This change will have massive transforming effect in the political scenario of India. Nitish has redefined two significant values in national politics: He accepted that he seeks power but for the welfare of people and not for himself or family. It is altruistic power that he wishes to grab. Secondly he redefined secularism as way of thinking rather than caring for only one community. Ultimately he is veering around Modi’s constitutional Hinduism (the term I coined to best describe his attitude) without appeasement to any one. Secularism is not acceptable as cover up of corruption. Transparency has emerged as the most significant value for ensuring rapid development and removing poverty.

Bus Stand

First Passenger: Why all the Cabinet ministers did not go to Delhi to show solidarity with CM?

Second Passenger: They preferred eating cake rather than loitering on Janpath.

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