The drama in Bihar

The BJP’s team of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has not just brought Bihar — lost in the 2015 voter verdict — back in the NDA fold but also hijacked the very leader who could have possibly emerged as their main challenger and a united Opposition’s unanimous choice in the 2019 contest. Politically it was one of their easiest victories. The two BJP leaders plan in advance, move fast and strike hard, leaving little time for opponents to gather their wits and react. The slow-moving, slow-reacting Congress leadership has once against proved that it is no match to its rivals in the BJP when it comes to political manoeuvring. Failing to bring the two warring coalition partners to the negotiating table to sort out their differences, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have displayed familiar indecisiveness. They could not convince either Lalu Prasad to shift his son from the post of Deputy Chief Minister or tell Nitish Kumar to back off. 

After the latest setback, doubts may rise about their leadership role, their ability to manage a disparate crowd of leaders, bereft of principles and united by the lure of power and by their opposition to Modi. The alternative narrative, stitched half-heartedly for 2019, stands dissipated. A pragmatic Nitish Kumar had the foresight to realise well in time that it was futile to chase the elusive goal of becoming Prime Minister, and that it was wiser to make peace with Modi and settle for the post of Chief Minister. 

By hinging his Mahagathbandan desertion on a corruption plank, Nitish Kumar has acted cleverly, even though his act is contrary to the spirit of the 2015 Bihar mandate which was clearly against the BJP. It suits the BJP to portray the Bihar drama as something against corruption. Modi has tolerated the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh and Nitish had no objection in forging an alliance with a corruption convict. Nitish’s change of heart was not sudden. His party had supported demonetisation and voted for the BJP’s presidential candidate. The CBI raids have yielded for the BJP the unexpected results. The “agencies” are the new instrument of political management.