If murmurs in the political corridors are to be believed, Nitish Kumar may resign as Bihar chief minister “very soon”. While some put a time frame of “very soon” as “around three weeks”, others didn’t want to be specific. But if Nitish Kumar indeed steps down, does it mean the “king of flip-flops” will once again join hands with Tejashwi Yadav and the Congress in the state? After all, since 2013, when he ended Janata Dal (United)’s 17-year stint in the National Democratic Alliance, observers say he has been behaving like a political yo-yo. So the question would not be unjustified.
But those who are discussing his “resignation” insist that, unlike in the past, the ageing JD(U) leader will stick to the NDA. A section believes he will pave the way for a Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister in Bihar, with deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who belongs to the Koeri caste and is also an OBC like Kumar, being the likely candidate. They insist this was the stipulation for taking Nitish Kumar into the NDA fold this time. After all, the seat-sharing agreement has already given a sneak peek of who the big brother is — the BJP has fought in 17 Lok Sabha constituencies and JD(U) 16.
However, no one from the BJP or JD(U) commented on this when asked. Instead, most dismiss it as “gossip”. But this “gossip” is gaining traction by the hour as Nitish Kumar arrived in New Delhi on Sunday.
On Monday morning, he reached 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. Kumar is also scheduled to meet union home minister Amit Shah later.
One may very well call it a courtesy meeting between a chief minister and the Prime Minister, but the timing gives ammunition to rumour-mongers. This was on a day the BJP sent a five-page form to all its candidates meant to be filled and returned to party chief JP Nadda, to select members of the council of ministers for the Modi government 3.0. This exercise started after Sunday’s meeting between PM Modi, Shah, and Nadda.
Does this mean Nitish Kumar will join the Modi cabinet?
A highly placed source in the BJP told News18 on condition of anonymity, “These are purely in the realms of speculation. I will not get into it. But yes, the BJP won’t fight the next assembly election under Nitish Kumar’s leadership or even on a similar-strength basis. Nitish Babu is ageing and is not the same persona as he used to be.” The BJP source suggested a gradual political sunset for Kumar.
That brings us to the same question, will Nitish Kumar join the Modi cabinet should he resign as Bihar CM? And if he does at all, will Narendra Modi return him the railway portfolio that the Prime Minister has so far chosen to give to technocrats like Suresh Prabhu and Ashwini Vaishnaw?
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