JD(U) planting stories in media of Congress alliance to bail out Nitish

With the help of dear friends in the media, the Janata Dal (United) leaders are working overtime to plant stories of the possibility of a new type of alliance in Bihar having Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial face and comprising Congress, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.

Even as the AICC in-charge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil has categorically stated that there are no talks with JD(U) at any level to woo Nitish Kumar back, stories are repeatedly appearing in the regional television channels and newspapers that efforts are seriously on in this direction.

“Our alliance is with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and we are sticking to it,” Gohil made it amply clear.

Any decision on the alliance will be taken by the Central leadership, yet the media in Bihar has been coming out with stories quoting a few little-known Congress legislators that talks are on and that Nitish Kumar is the best chief ministerial face of Bihar.

Buxar MLA Sanjay Kumar Tiwari is the most prominent among them. The fact is that Tiwari was critical of his own party when it gave ticket to Shambhu Patel in the Bhabua by-poll held in March last. He then said the Congress should not have given the ticket to a Kurmi but to a Brahmin, his own caste, as their numbers are larger. There are a couple of other legislators who are speaking in the same line. They are said to be loyal to the former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Ashok Chaudhary, who has now crossed over to the Janata Dal (United). Chaudhary was the education minister in the Grand Alliance government led by Nitish Kumar.

The latest development in the media started after Nitish’s phone call to ailing Lalu Prasad Yadav late last month.

While apparently Nitish inquired about RJD chief’s health the phone call sparked off speculations that Bihar chief minister is planning another U-turn.

But the whole exercise failed to cut much ice as the leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly and Lalu’s youngest son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav questioned the reason behind Nitish’s phone call when his father has been ailing for last four months.

The latest development in the media started after Nitish’s phone call to ailing Lalu Prasad Yadav late last month. The phone call by Nitish to Lalu was made to give strength to his own bargaining position while dealing with the Bharatiya Janata Party. As the move apparently did not work a new strategy was soon adopted.

Tejashwi made it loud and clear that if the objective was to return to Grand Alliance there is absolutely no scope for the JD(U) supremo, especially if he wants to be its chief ministerial face.

The phone call by Nitish to Lalu was made to give strength to his own bargaining position while dealing with the Bharatiya Janata Party. As the move apparently did not work a new strategy was soon adopted.

With media always eager to dance to Nitish’s tune the idea of a new alliance was soon floated.

Reacting strongly to this practice of planting stories, RJD vice president Shivanand Tiwari said any decision about any alliance in Congress is taken by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other central leaders and not the local leaders in Bihar.

Political observers are of the view that if the central leadership of Congress can go all the way to make HD Kumaraswamy the chief minister of Karnataka, how can it sacrifice Lalu Prasad, who had always stood behind the party, for Nitish Kumar, who is highly unpredictable.

However, most Congress leaders in Bihar are opposed to any deal with Nitish, but they are not getting the attention in the media.

A senior Bihar Congress leader Kishore Kumar Jha said how can the party take Nitish into the Grand Alliance when the latter not only crossed over to the BJP, but had repeatedly criticised Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi? Not only that, he had unsuccessfully tried to engineer a split in the Congress Legislature Party.

With Lok Sabha election more than nine months from now, any talk of any type of alliance keeping RJD away is absurd. The JD(U) is trying to distract the attention from the difficult situation in which Nitish has landed himself.