Already some of his media sympathisers and friends have started contributing articles to various journals comparing him with the late socialist icon Karpoori Thakur. According to them Nitish is the modern face of the dalit assertion and since he has been speaking for the poor and the scheduled caste people, the BJP has been conspiring to pull down him from the office.

This is the worst nature of lie being fed to the people by his friends. What is indeed shocking is in their pursuit to project Nitish as the messiah of the poor, these media persons have pulled down Thakur to level of Nitish. A write up reads; “he might be removed from his post like former chief minister Karpoori Thakur. It reflects the widening rift between his Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, caused by the inherent contradictions in the mandate of 2020 assembly elections in Bihar.”

“Karpoori Thakur as the chief minister worked for the welfare of all sections of the society but he was removed from his post within two years. We too are working in the interest of all sections of society. Sometimes, some people get annoyed at the prospect of working in the interest of all sections of the society,” Nitish has been quoted as saying while commemorating the anniversary of his mentor and the socialist patriarch at his party office on Sunday.

Thakur served the state of Bihar as chief minister twice – first from December 22, 1970 to June 2, 1971 and again from June 24, 1977 to April 21, 1979. Nitish was clearly referring to Thakur’s second term in office which lasted lesser than two years. In sharp contrast Nitish has been serving as the chief minister at a stretch for last 15 years with the help of the BJP.

An effort is being made to draw a parallel between the circumstances in which Thakur had to quit as the chief minister in 1979 and the challenges Nitish has been facing. Thakur really gave a voice to the poor and worked for them. But Nitish simply strived to be in power. Karpoori Thakur headed the Janata Party government. The Janata Party was an amalgamation of two parties, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh rooted to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Lok Dal rooted to the socialist school of Ram Manohar Lohia. Thakur implemented some innovative programmes for the Dalits and backward castes. But Nitish simply resorted to populism to create his own support base. Thakur had implemented 33 per cent reservation for the backward classes in government jobs in Bihar.

Thakur’s policies enraged the ‘upper’ castes people and the politicians belonging to this section, particularly the Bhumihars, extended their fullest support and even acted as his conscience keeper. On the contrary the BJP’s Bhumihar face Kailashpati Mishra pulled down Karpoori government in April 1979.

It is argued that following in the footsteps of Thakur the backward castes were divided into two groups extremely backward class (EBC) and other backward class (OBC), reserving 18 per cent and 12 per cent of the government jobs, respectively, for them by Nitish. But the fact is he resorted to this action to weaken the stature of Ram Vilas Paswan as the leader of Dalits and backwards.

It is a historical fact that the RSS has never supported the policy of the “preferential treatment” to the deprived sections. But it is also a fact that the RSS and BJP leaders in Bihar extended full support to Nitish in his move. Even after being aware of the fact that RSS-BJP traditionally has had upper castes as its core support base which has been at war with the weaker castes in the Hindi heartland Nitish continued to have alliance with the BJP and was a member of the BJP led NDA. Almost all the top leaders of the BJP were his advisers. The most closet friend was BJP’s Sushil Mody, who was the Dy chief minister.

The fact of the matter is due to his style of functioning and behavior, he has turned suspect in the eyes of the BJP’s top leadership. How he betrayed his secular friends in 2017 is a well-known fact. Lalu Yadav had made him the chief minister of the secular front, but he betrayed them and switched on to BJP camp. In the wake of that event some leaders of great alliance had described him as the rank opportunist who would do anything for power. They had also alleged that stabbing his political allies in the back has been a constant in the JD(U) leader’s political career

There is no denying the fact Nitish loves power and knows how to stick to it. He can switch sides and adjust with rivals with such ease that even an aya Ram gaya Ram would be put to shame. He can turn principles and ideology upside down to stick to power at any cost. People recall how he tried to convince others in the secular camp to hurry up and form a united Opposition front to fight BJP. At a gathering of Opposition leaders not too long ago: “Why will they (BJP) set the agenda? Why doesn’t Rahulji set the agenda? Right now, the need of the nation is Opposition unity.” When it suited Nitish, he tried to build a “RSS-mukt Bharat”.

After the 2020 Bihar assembly election, it is a known fact Nitish has lost most of his political strength. Obviously there is no reason that BJP would not use the situation to its advantage. And it has been doing the same. In this backdrop Nitish is free to fight the BJP. As a tactics to counter the BJP strategy Nitish and his friends have started raising the bogey of Nitish would be removed as the chief minister midway. This undoubtedly reflects his frustration and also the widening rift between the JD(U) and the BJP. On previous occasions too, Nitish has indirectly blamed the BJP for hindering the smooth sail of the JD(U)-BJP government in Bihar.

To demonstrate his power he has even refused to induct the BJP leaders suggested by the central leaders of the party into his cabinet. He has even refused to meet state in-charge of the BJP Bhupender Yadav over the issue leaving the national party mulling about its future course of action. (IPA Service)