Patna: Known for taking bold decisions, chief minister Nitish Kumar seems to be working under pressure now. The continuous graph of BJP going up has indirectly created a kind of pressure on Nitish due to which he is not able to take any bold decision.
The recent performance of BJP in Hyderabad Civic Polls and District Development Council (DDC) of J&K has given an opportunity to maintain their hegemony.
Nitish is not only surrounded by the BJP pressure but also with the politics of opposition especially after RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav predicted midterm polls.
The pressure has made him so fragile that he is unable to take any decision on the expansion of the cabinet despite more than one month of government formation.
Looking back at Nitish's track record, he has always played the role of a big brother while maintaining the hegemony of BJP. He never stooped nor hesitated to take any big decision. It was like Nitish's monarchy for 15 long years in which he ruled the state on his own terms and conditions. However, the Bihar assembly results of 2020 have made a complete change and now decision making power is no more in his hands.
Though Nitish has become the chief minister it's BJP in the role of big brother. BJP secured victory on 74 seats whereas Nitish's JDU just managed to win only 43 seats – the difference of 31 seats.
Due to the difference of 31 seats, Nitish has to handover more cabinet portfolios to the BJP. It is also for the first time that BJP got the speaker's chair too apart from two deputy chief ministers in the history of Bihar politics.
Going with the present scenario, It is clearly visible that he is not the same Nitish known for doing things on his own. Pressure could also be understood with the fact that no decision has been taken yet on the 12 vacant seats of governor quota. Nitish is now living with a different BJP for which he has to pay a good price to remain on the chair of CM.
However, JDU categorically denied the narrative of Nitish working under pressure.
“There is no pressure on Nitish Ji, the people of Bihar and the media fraternity know him very well. What kind of pressure are you talking about? He has run the government for 15 long years with a free mind. When there was pressure while being with Mahagathbandhan, he did not think twice to dump them. He has never done politics under pressure,” senior JDU leader and former minister Sanjay Jha said.
BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said that their party is not creating any hurdles for Nitish and he has been given free hand to work.
RJD leader Shyam Rajak on the other hand stressed that there is an internal conflict within the NDA as both want to hit each other very hard.
“There is a sense of insecurity in both camps (read JDU and BJP) and it will ultimately turn into a big conflict resulting in the midterm poll, “Rajak claimed.
Political expert DM Diwarkar too accepted Nitish's helplessness.
“Both BJP and JDU need each other, the helplessness is not only for Nitish but also for the BJP. As the JDU number has gone down, it is obvious that helplessness would be visible. BJP too has left with no option, they cannot dump Nitish. Both have to go through the same compulsion,” Diwakar asserted.
Though Nitish has managed to become CM for the seventh time, he is unable to work with a free mind. Sources said that there are many things Nitish wants to do but BJP is not allowing him to do so.
At present, JDU is not speaking anything on the issue especially after Hyderabad and J&K results but they may speak up after the Bengal poll as the results would have a cascading impact on Bihar politics.
