image source: India today
Nitish’s Flip from Mahagathbandhan
After several days of political drama in Bihar finally on the morning of 28th January 2024 Nitish Kumar resigned from the chief minister’s post and broke his party’s alliance with Mahagathbandhan after almost a year and a half. In the evening of the same, he was sworn in for a record 9th time for the chief minister’s post with the support of the Bhartiya Janta party (the single largest party in the Bihar legislative assembly), after switching the side Nitish Kumar also made his return again to the national democratic alliance (NDA) which he had dumped in august 2022. It’s not the first time Nitish Kumar has done such a political stunt he is very well known for such practices, whether it is in 2015 when he joined hands with his arch-political rival Lalu Prasad Yadav and formed Mahagathbandhan and later backstabbed the alliance partner in 2017 by joining the hands with BJP and prime minister Modi whom Nitish Kumar has criticized a lot when he was declared as the prime minister’s candidate for NDA IN 2014 Lok Sabha election, Or it was in 2022 when he betrayed the mandate of the people of Bihar and joined back the Mahagathbandhan alliance with RJD and dumbed NDA. Many politicians, experts, and journalists call Nitish a political opportunist who can do anything for ‘satta ki kursi’. Names such as ‘palturam’ and ‘paltu kumar’ are being used by his political opponents. Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh compared Nitish Kumar with a ‘chameleon’. but for Nitish Kumar and his supporters, it is making the best use of their utility.
Why did Nitish Kumar leave I.N.D.I.A alliance
Nitish Kumar was the facilitator of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance also known as I.N.D.I alliance. The exit of Nitish kumar from the bloc has given a major blow to opposition unity. He was one among all who initiated the process of opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha election to fight against the BJP-led NDA alliance. It was under his chairmanship first meeting of 16 opposition was held in Patna on June 2023 and a proposal for the new alliance was initiated. According to experts, congress had promised Nitish Kumar if he could bring different opposition parties under one roof then he would be rewarded with a convener post of the new opposition bloc. But things didn’t work out for Nitish as he had thought because many leaders including Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal were reluctant to propose or even second Nitish Kumar’s name as convener of I.N.D.I alliance and to counter Nitish’s claim they had proposed Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s name as the prime minister’s candidate for I.N.D.I alliance. Which made Nitish Kumar very unhappy after which Nitish understood that he had no future with this alliance. Several reports and surveys also highlighted that with Mahagathbandhan Janata Dal (United) will not be able to repeat its last election performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and many leaders within the party were more convinced and comfortable with the BJP-led alliance, the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya And Narendra Modi as the face has created good political circumstances for BJP And NDA in Bihar. In such a situation Nitish thought of securing his political career and also protection from ED and CBI as he is near to retirement from politics. Finally, he made his return to the National Democratic Alliance.
Future of I.N.D.I.A alliance
The repercussions of political drama in Bihar have had a nationwide impact on the Indian alliance and have given a major dent in opposition unity. Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats and is a very important Hindi heartland state where BJP is very strong already and the split of Mahagathbandhan has further strengthened its position. Mamata Banerjee already had announced to fight elections alone in Bengal. In Punjab and Delhi, the state units of AAP are also reluctant to compromise with Congress. The anti-Hindu statement by DMK leaders created a negative image of the Indi alliance among people. In all such circumstances, the future of the Indi alliance is looking very bleak and there is a high possibility that the alliance may get divided before elections only.
