PATNA: Congress’s imminent return to government in Bihar as a constituent of the grand alliance resurrected by JD(U) and RJD on Tuesday led the party to demand four cabinet berths, one more than its allies are willing to give, sources said.
RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav apparently wants the home department, which CM Nitish Kumar has always retained, for his party. An RJD functionary said the party was also eyeing the assembly speaker’s post, reports Sheezan Nezami.
In 2015, Congress had four cabinet berths to show for an assembly strength of 27 MLAs. Since the party currently has 19 MLAs, applying the same formula of one cabinet post for every six MLAs would effectively give it three cabinet berths. The party plans to give these berths to a Dalit, a Muslim and an upper-caste candidate.
Congress’s imminent return to government in Bihar as a constituent of the grand alliance resurrected by JD(U) and RJD on Tuesday led the party to demand four cabinet berths, one more than its larger allies are willing to give, sources said.
RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav apparently wants the home department, which CM Nitish Kumar has always retained, for his party. An RJD functionary said the party was also eyeing the assembly speaker’s post.
In 2015, Congress had four cabinet berths to show for an assembly strength of 27 MLAs. Since the party currently has 19 MLAs, applying the same formula of one cabinet post for every six MLAs would effectively give it three cabinet berths. The party plans to give these berths to a Dalit, a Muslim and an upper-caste candidate.
“In the upper-caste quota, state Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, CLP leader Ajeet Sharma and senior party functionary Vijay Shankar Dubey are in the race. All three are trying their best to get a cabinet berth. This may push Congress to put pressure on the alliance partners and increase its quota to four,” said a Congress insider. “There is pressure to have one OBC minister, too. Rajesh Ram is expected to be made cabinet minister from the Dalit quota.”
An RJD member said the name of Congress’s Kadwa MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan was also being talked about for a cabinet berth. “He is a strong minority leader and wields clout in Delhi.”
A day before Nitish’s rumoured telephone conversation with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, there was talk of the party pressing for two deputy CMs – one from RJD and another from Congress. Tejashwi rejected the proposal, sources said.
CLP leader Sharma claimed cabinet berths hadn’t even discussed within the party. “Our focus is on the Constitution and development of Bihar. On August Kranti Diwas, BJP was made to leave the government, just like the initiative to throw out the British,” he said.
‘Chhota bhai’ who will be CM for a record 8th time
When Nitish Kumar takes oath as the Grand Alliance’s chief minister in Patna on Wednesday, the 71-year-old JD(U) patriarch will be the only politician in the country to have been sworn in as CM eight times.
Called the “Chanakya” of Bihar politics, Nitish came into the limelight of state politics in March 1990 after he helped his Janata Dal senior Lalu Prasad to rise to the chair of CM. At that time, Nitish used to regard Lalu as his “bada bhai” and Lalu used to call Nitish his “chhota bhai”. Insiders say Lalu used to take the consent of Nitish and some other senior colleagues before taking any major political and administrative decision in the party and the government.
But, within years, the “brothers” began to differ on certain political issues and their relationship soured after Nitish, against Lalu’s wishes, joined a rally of his caste men, “the Kurmi Chetna Maharally”, at Gandhi Maidan on February 12, 1994. After addressing this rally, Nitish took his own political line, out of Lalu’s shadow.
But Nitish’s aspiration to emerge as Lalu’s alternative suffered a setback when his newly-floated Samata Party won just seven of the 310 seats it had contested in the 1995 polls.
However, the party’s prospects brightened in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls when, in an alliance with BJP, it won eight seats, six in Bihar alone. The alliance that Nitish struck with BJP in 1996 lasted for an uninterrupted 17 years: Nitish became the railway minister in the Vajpayee government besides becoming the Bihar CM thrice with BJP’s help during this period.
But the ties snapped in 2013 after then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi was made BJP’s campaign chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, prompting JD(U) to quit the NDA. But going solo in the 2014 polls proved disastrous for Nitish as JD(U) could win just two of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state — against 20 seats that it had won in the 2009 election — prompting him to strike an alliance with RJD and Congress in the 2015 assembly elections.
Nitish has always suffered a setback whenever he has gone solo. On the other hand, on all the seven occasions that he became the chief minister he could do so only with the help of allies: five times with the help of the BJP, and twice with the help of others, including in 2015 when he became the Mahagathbandhan’s CM.
Opposition sees Nitish Kumar move as sign of taking fight to BJP
Opposition parties welcomed Nitish Kumar’s move to snap ties with BJP and ally with RJD, Congress and other parties in Bihar as a move that took the fight to BJP and a sign that the opposition would not be intimidated by the saffron party. One party said the realignment in Bihar had given BJP a taste of its own medicine.
“This is a good beginning today, the day when the slogan of ‘Bharat chhoro (Quit India)’ was given against the British. If the slogan of ‘BJP bhagaao (drive away BJP)’ is coming from Bihar, I feel that in other states also, parties will stand against BJP, and so will the people,” Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said.
Congress politician Jairam Ramesh said it was an example of what goes up must come down and that the ruling party had been “illegally” toppling state governments. “In March 2020, Modi Sarkar postponed the Covid-19 lockdown to engineer the fall of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. Now, it cuts short the Parliament session knowing its coalition government in Bihar is going. What goes up must come down!” Ramesh said on Twitter. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot described the JD(U) and BJP alliance as “nefarious” and “bound to break”.
In March 2020, Modi Sarkar postponed COVID-19 lockdown to engineer the fall of the Kamal Nath govt in MP. Now, it c… https://t.co/LHXkPlHyt8— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) 1660039634000
CPI general secretary D Raja tweeted to say that Nitish’s move was a “strong indictment of the politics of intimidation practiced by BJP”.”BJP’s authoritarianism leaves no scope for cooperation. After Akalis & Shiv Sena, JD(U) is the latest example. Cracks are visible in the relationship of BJP & AIADMK too,” he said.
#NitishKumar breaking alliance with BJP is a strong indictment of the politics of intimidation practiced by BJP.B… https://t.co/GI22D5ZBLV— D Raja (@ComradeDRaja) 1660039448000
Former PM and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda tweeted: “I have been watching the developments in Bihar. It made me think of the days when the Janata Dal parivar was under one roof. It gave three PMs. I am in my advanced years but if the younger generation decides, it can offer a good alternative to this great nation,” he tweeted.
I have been watching the developments in Bihar. It made me think of the days when the Janata Dal parivar was under… https://t.co/NYx9986Pck— H D Devegowda (@H_D_Devegowda) 1660050943000
CPI MP Binoy Viswam said one could sense a change. “Bihar conveys the message of far-reaching change in Indian politics. It’s final outcome depends upon the level of insight expected from the important players,” Viswa tweeted, adding that the Left would play a “responsible role in its consistent fight against RSS-BJP”.
Bihar conveys the message of fareaching change in Indian politics.Its final out come depends up on the level of ins… https://t.co/FjkckmFzkr— Binoy Viswam (@BinoyViswam1) 1660035571000
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said BJP had now got a “taste of their own medicine”. “The BJP has said that it wanted an opposition-free India. Now look at how some parties are reacting to them, particularly their allies. They are getting a taste of their own medicine after what they did in Maharashtra,” Yechury told news agency PTI.
Tamil Nadu’s governing DMK said party chief MK Stalin’s determination to battle BJP in national politics had received a boost from Nitish’s move.
