The BJP’s apparent reluctance to back Narendra Modi’s “Hanuman” Chirag Paswan has led sections to fear that its leadership has buckled under pressure from partner Nitish Kumar at a time the party’s new-found vice grip on Bihar politics seems to have loosened in the aftermath of the Bengal misadventure.
Chirag, felled by a coup in the Lok Janshakti Party led by his uncle, too is feeling let down by Modi after he worked assiduously to weaken Bihar chief minister Nitish in the elections.
The BJP leaders feel the leadership is wary of annoying allies, especially those like Nitish with whom relations have been uncomfortable of late, at a time the party’s seeming electoral invincibility has cracked in Bengal and Modi’s image has taken a battering due to the mishandling of the pandemic.
“It’s quite clear that Nitish Kumar is behind the split in the LJP and our party appears to be quietly accepting everything,” a Bihar BJP leader said.
The leader felt the central leadership could be reluctant to irritate Nitish by backing Chirag also because several long-time allies have severed ties with the BJP.
“Maybe the central leaders don’t want any wrong signal to go out ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls next year,” a Bihar MP said.
After the exit of the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal, the JDU with 16 MPs is currently the only significant ally left in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.
Realising the need for partners in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, the BJP leadership has begun wooing disgruntled smaller allies who had felt slighted by the Big Brother.
Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda have been hosting leaders of parties with pockets of strength in Uttar Pradesh, such as the Apna Dal and the Nishad Party. Efforts are also apparently afoot to woo back another estranged ally, Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party.
The BJP feels the party needs to weave a coalition of different castes and communities to win the heartland state decisively.
The perception that the BJP may be aiding, or at least playing along with Nitish’s determined attempt to split the LJP has been strengthened by the swiftness with which Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras was recognised as the leader of the LJP in the Lok Sabha within 24 hours on Tuesday.
Paras and the other rebel LJP MPs met and petitioned Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday evening for the designation, and late on Monday night the name of the new leader was notified by the Lower House secretariat.
Caught unawares by the coup, Chirag on Tuesday rushed a letter to the Speaker urging him to withdraw the notification. He claimed that according to the constitution of the LJP, the central parliamentary board (of which Chirag is the chairman) of the party is empowered to decide on the Lok Sabha leader.“We are already facing problems in states we rule and it would not be prudent to open another front with Nitish,” a BJP leader said.
The BJP has been rushing party managers to Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa and Madhya Pradesh in addition to Uttar Pradesh, with murmurs of discontent and rebellion rising against the chief ministers in these states.
“Had we won Bengal, things would have been different. The rebellion in the LJP would also not have taken place,” another BJP leader said.
Many in the BJP believe Nitish has taken advantage of the post-Bengal political atmosphere to strike at the LJP and assert himself before the BJP. Nitish had been feeling increasingly hemmed in by the BJP after the party became the dominant partner in the alliance for the first time after the 2020 Bihar elections. In Bihar’s political circles a buzz had been growing that the BJP could move to claim the chief minister’s post in the state had it wrested Bengal.
Nitish’s JDU had managed to win only 43 seats while the BJP’s tally had jumped to 74.
The JDU had blamed the LJP and it’s then chief Chirag for its emaciated tally of 43. Chirag had opposed Nitish’s leadership, broken out of the NDA and fielded candidates mostly against the JDU while claiming he was with the BJP. The JDU felt that Chirag’s candidates cut into the NDA’s votes and defeated their nominees.
Chirag had during the campaign cast himself as Modi’s “Hanuman” and it was widely believed that the BJP was using him to undercut Nitish.
On Tuesday, Chirag indicated that his “Ram” had dumped him.Asked why he hasn’t sought help from his “Ram”, Modi, Chirag said on Tuesday: “If Hanuman has to seek help from Ram then what is the point of Ram or Hanuman?”
