Coming month will watch the test and also display of the highest order of political skill and acumen. True enough Delhi will witness the royal battle of political talent and would decode the intrinsic character of the country. With Nitish putting his pride and prejudice on test, Modi-Shah combine will also intensify their manipulations more aggressively and decisively to turn India’s character and its political direction towards the Right, even far-Right.

Final decision about the content and nature of the ideological and political campaign against the BJP will be taken by the collegium of the opposition leaders, it is certain that Nitish will harp on exposing the ingenuity and perilous effect of the Hindutva politics of the BJP leaders. One thing is dearly clear to Nitish that unless the BJP leaders are not dealt head on in a more aggressive manner, it would be hard to win over the middle class people who still have their faith in Modi in spite of immense failures on economic and development front and corruption acquiring a magnum proportion.

Yet another task before him is to encourage the opposition leaders to come out openly on the streets, abandon their sense of ambiguity and to confront the BJP’s Hindutva card.

In fact summing up the debate on confidence motion in Bihar assembly on August 24 he did not conceal his intention to unite the opposition and provide a new direction to the war against the divisive politics of BJP. Though some of his close aides are sceptical of the response from some of the regional satraps and from those aspiring to be projected as the challenger to Modi, they strongly hold the view that in the present political scenario, none else but only Nitish can throw a challenge to Modi. Nevertheless the national president of the JD(U) Lalan Singh candidly said; “ Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may emerge as the opposition's prime ministerial candidate if other parties want so, then this is an option.”

Kumar's main focus is on uniting opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and he has already started the process of consulting other opposition leaders. In fact while participating in the debate in house, Nitish candidly said “ I have been receiving calls from opposition leaders from across the nation and all have promised to lend their support in the mission to stop Narendra Modi from coming to power in 2024.” During his visit to Delhi he will meet leaders from various parties.

Not to allow any nature of misconception to creep in the minds of the opposition leaders, his close aides have made their best to clarify that Nitish is not a contender for the opposition's prime ministerial candidate. Though the aides did not mention the names of opposition leaders who are in the race to become prime minister, sources maintain that Arvind Kejriwal may prove to be a stumbling block.

Otherwise too in the present scenario Kejriwal could claim to have good number of MPs in his favour; from Delhi and Punjab. But this is not enough to counter Modi. In contrast Nitish is sure of more than 35 MPs of Mahagathbandhan at least from Bihar, Already SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has extended his support to him. Lalan Singh confessed that many opposition leaders, including Sharad Pawar and even Arvind Kejriwal, called up Kumar to congratulate him after he snapped ties with the BJP.

With the situation not shaping to their plan, Modi and Shah have turned desperate and planning to launch a smearing campaign against him. The immediate issue that features on the agenda on Modi-Shah is to tarnish his image by accusing that Bihar has turned into a jungle raj under the mahagathbandhan rule again. Moves are also afoot to reopen the criminal cases in which his close aides are involved. This is being planned to bring to make him come to his knees. But the chances are quite bleak that any such machination would help Modi-Shah. People have come to realise of the dirty games of the ED, CBI and other agencies.

To counter any such design, the JD(U) leaders are planning to intensify and publicise his gains. He enjoys an untainted image. His name also does not feature in the list of corrupt leaders or a politician patronising nepotism. Incidentally the BJP has been targeting the opposition leaders on these two issues. Since Modi has been using these two issues to malign Tejashvi and his RJD leaders, Nitish barely a fortnight back asked his ministers as well as legislators and leaders to conduct themselves with dignity and humility, give priority to helping the poor. He has come out with a list of directives for cabinet colleagues with the effort of image makeover.

Aides of Nitish are hopeful of the success of the mission of Nitish as they are facing the challenge of their survival. They are aware that any leniency on their part would facilitate Modi to obliterate them from the country’s political scene. It is said that some leaders have also approached Mamata Banerjee not to push her own case and instead support Nitish in his endeavour. In fact Mamata Banerjee has been constantly hinting at some mechanism of “Opposition unity”. Her attempts naturally focus on the perspective of state parties and federal power-sharing. It was Rahul Gandhi factor that has been creating obstacles in her path. These leaders also feel that in order to protect and preserve the democratic ethos and its functioning it is imperative that the rightist forces must be stopped jointly by the Congress and the regional parties

Some leaders also nurse the view that Modi-Shah combination was resorting more to strong arm tactics than opting for political actions. Use of saffron musclemen to silence the critics and their heavy dependence on ED, CBI and IT are being cited as their favourite tools to goad the opposition. (IPA Service)