In a single day, the politics of Bihar turned upside down. Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar Chief Minister (CM) just to get back to the realm within a day. The reason stated for steeping down as CM is far from believable. As Tejaswi Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, was not explaining the corruption charges against him, he resigned on moral grounds. The relationship between the both is Mahagathbandhan alliance which was ruling the state. Janata Dal(U), led by Nitish Kumar; Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD), led by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Congress formed alliance in 2015 to contest elections. Now, the relationship was strained due to corruption charges on Tejaswi Yadav and Nitish Kumar had to face the heat.
It was alleged that in 2004, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejaswi Yada were involved in land-for-hotels case. Three acres of land was given as a bribe to Yadav’s family to secure a licence to run a hotel. But, Tejaswi Yadav accuses BJP of false charges as he was just 14 year old in 2004. Though the case is not yet closed, the damage is already felt in terms of erosion of ruling party credibility. Nitish Kumar’s move sounds morally correct but forming the government with BJP just doesn’t sound well. Nitish Kumar fielded himself as Narendra Modi’s competitor for Prime Ministership in 2014. Also, he won 2015 Assembly elections by projecting BJP as Hindutva party and his party as secular. Now, forming a government along with BJP looks opportunistic.
Present JU(U)-BJP government has 129 seats out of 243 Assembly seats. Earlier the Mahagathbandhan alliance had a whopping 178/243 seats. So, the opposition still wields greater power. Looking forward, the new alliance would be more beneficial to BJP than JD(U). JD(U)’s base was slowly eroding as they were unable to stand on their election promises. On the other hand, BJP was gaining more foot on the ground given the popularity of the Modi and his landmark reforms. So, now the BJP is in dictating terms both in the government and for the 2019 general elections. BJP could also propagate its ideology into the masses without much hindrance. There are also chances that BJP could completely erode JD(U)s popularity.
Of course, opposition would not sit idle watching all these moves. Congress would also think about continuing with RJD, given its notorious background. However, the options for congress are limited, especially when it is not in power at Centre. JD(U) should now be aware of every single move taken by the BJP or Congress given its vulnerability in the state. With these changing dynamics, people of Bihar should assert themselves for the development they deserve.