The meeting brought back memories of Kumar advocating the ‘withdrawal method’ to women for birth control last year. He was pilloried for his comment. But this was one of the few times that a politician was letting on to the electorate a political secret close to his heart.
For the past few years, Patna has been abuzz with speculation that Nitish has lost his marbles. Yet, he manages to remain Bihar CM, sometimes with the help of BJP, sometimes with the help of RJD.
People forget that for 19 years since 2005, when he became CM for the first time, Kumar has merely stood his ground. It’s BJP, RJD, Congress, who fight to share his bed. They– Lalu Yadav, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi – are the real ‘Paltu Babus’, making contortions to accommodate Kumar.
It will keep happening because Kumar is a rare Bihar politician who has transcended caste. Upper castes trust him more than they trust RJD and Congress. A significant chunk of OBCs, EBCs and Muslims trust him more than RJD and BJP. And his ‘LuvKush samikaran’ of Kurmis and Koeris trust him implicitly, as Lok Sabha results attest.
Kumar is a bundle of contradictions and obfuscations. He’s seen by voters as troublesome and a patriarchal curmudgeon. For the most part of his political dominance, he has been in partnership with BJP. Yet, he’s seen as secular. Even when he is supported by the upper caste and OBC ‘bahubalis’, he’s seen as a man of integrity. Sometimes, he’s so ideologically and philosophically amorohous that he seems the creation of a magigical realist far superior to OV Vijayan or Marquez.BJP’s below-par performance in the last Lok Sabha elections and JD(U)’s 12 MPs have given Kumar a boost. It has laid to rest Prashant Kishor’s hope of moving into the space vacated by Kumar and JD(U) after the party’s expected defeat in the polls. That didn’t happen. Kishor’s fledgling Jan Suraaj Party is also why Kumar wouldn’t ditch BJP before the assembly polls. He knows Kishor is waiting in the wings to hitch up with BJP.For the moment, NDA, which runs with the blessings of Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, is safe. But things could change quickly if Kumar suspects that BJP is trying to poach its MPs. History has shown that BJP has always tried to reduce its allies to size.
Even in the last Bihar assembly elections in 2019, BJP used Chirag Paswan to scuttle Kumar’s win in many seats. This was done when they were in alliance. JD(U) was reduced to being the thirdlargest party after RJD and BJP. Yet, it was Kumar who became the CM.
And therein lies Kumar’s importance: by default, his appeal is spread out among all classes and communities. And among women, it reigns supreme.
Tejaswi Yadav, who could become CM, has not gained wide acceptance, though he has come a long way from Lalu’s days of only Yadav and Muslim consolidation. His popularity among the youth is enviable. And the fact that he comes across as a far less divisive figure than his father has even earned him Kumar’s begrudging respect.
But in the middle of all this, when Nitish touches the feet of Modi, a man whose hand he once refused to shake, or sprinkles flowers on the head of Ashok Chowdhary, a minister in his cabinet, it sends shockwaves through Bihar. His friends are embarrassed for him. His enemies cry senile dementia.
Brilliant histrionics is just a manifestation of using the ‘withdrawal method’ at the right time in parliamentary democracy. When he finally exits the stage, no one is left holding the baby – neither RJD nor BJP. Ripeness is all.