Patna, July 15: Lalu Prasad's signal last night to his party's ministers to get ready to resign and lend outside support to the Nitish Kumar government has led to talks within the ruling coalition if the Grand Alliance is even worth saving.
Through the past week's political turbulence triggered by the land-for-hotels FIR against deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Grand Alliance leaders never failed to mention " chattani ekta (rock-like unity)" of the government. But no one, including the BJP in the opposition whose alliance with the JDU broke earlier, is quite too sure about the outside-support idea.
"If the Grand Alliance government survives despite the acrimony it will be like a body without a soul," said senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.
"The mandate given to the Grand Alliance in 2015 has been violated. Even if it survives this episode the cracks will remain," said former chief minister Jagannath Mishra. "The government will always look vulnerable to collapse. Government decisions will be difficult to implement because of lack of trust. Already the state is suffering... governance has come to a standstill. As a citizen I am worried."
Among the RJD too there are leaders who question Lalu's decision to support Nitish from outside. "Later, as the situation gets worse for Lalu due to his legal battle, it will be easy for Nitish to split the RJD and make it (the leaders) join his party. The problem with the RJD is that it is not a normal political party in which anyone else can replace Tejashwi. The politics of RJD will always hover around Lalu and his family," said a senior RJD leader.
Neither are the JDU leaders unenthusiastic about the prospect of Lalu's outside support, considering how the RJD could make things difficult for them in the legislative Houses.
"This sort of arrangement will not be advisable. We will have to look for the support of RJD for every bill we pass in the legislative Houses. They will have the power to bring the government to its knees every time. After this, the RJD will become a party that would look for opportunities to teach the government a lesson even though it may keep the government afloat," said a senior JDU leader, pointing out that there can be no trust between leaders of two parties who do not even talk to each other - Nitish and Lalu. "I do not perceive such a government being led by Nitish Kumar even though it will be the Bihar chief minister who will take the final call."
When Nitish decided to call off his alliance with the BJP in 2013 over Narendra Modi's projection as prime ministerial candidate, he wanted the ministers to resign rather than having to sack them. Sushil Modi and Nand Kishore Yadav, then ministers, were called to 1 Aney Marg to search for an amicable way to depart, but they refused to go and the BJP ministers stopped disposing of files even before they were sacked.
The bitterness between Nitish and his former BJP colleagues still persists - a few of them like former health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey still resist an association with Nitish.
The current political instability has already hit governance, as only routine work is being done and major decisions are kept in abeyance. Processing of files is delayed because officials fear to take any call in the current climate. Officials and employees are seen huddling together and gossiping. "They are all waiting for the political turbulence to end," said a former official.
Officials' behaviour towards their political bosses changes in case of instability, said senior officials. "When the alliance is good officials listen to leaders and ministers of all political parties. However, in case one leader gets stronger than the other they start listening only to the stronger leader. I think RJD chief Lalu Prasad's situation is going to get weaker due to the cases against him and his family. The officials will lean towards Nitish," said former director-general of police D.P. Ojha.
