Deciphering the inconsistent stance of Nitish Kumar

By unsuccessfully trying to stall the entry of Ahmed Patel into Rajya Sabha, the Janata Dal (United) has committed another faux pas. Curiously, it came within three days of the party voting against the BJP’s Vice-Presidential candidate, Venkaiah Naidu, and in support of Congress-backed UPA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

There was no charge of corruption and no FIR – as in the case of former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav – against the political secretary of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Then why did the JD(U)’s national spokesman, K C Tyagi, go out of their way to claim that his party’s lone MLA, Chhotubhai Vasava, actually voted for the BJP and that he had even met BJP chief Amit Shah after the election. This was when the MLA himself said that he had voted for Ahmed Patel and not the BJP, which has been looting the state for the last 22 years.

In the previous marriage of convenience, which lasted for 17 years, the Janata Dal (United) would always claim that the alliance with the BJP is confined to Bihar. In several states, including Gujarat, the Janata Dal (United) had contested elections separately. Even in Jharkhand, where JD(U) and BJP were in alliance at the time of its creation in 2000, the two parties took different paths later.

In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election of 2012, Nitish Kumar put up candidates in a large number of seats queering the pitch for the BJP in several places.

Though Nitish was running the government in alliance with the saffron party in Bihar, yet he extensively campaigned in UP then. It is another thing that his party lost deposit in many constituencies.

In Rajya Sabha elections, outside Bihar the Janata Dal (United) never showed so much zeal and enthusiasm for any BJP candidate as it did for Balwantsinh Rajput on August 8.

By opposing the candidature of Ahmed Patel tooth and nail for no valid reason, Nitish Kumar has made it amply clear that he does not only has problems with RJD chief Lalu Prasad or his son but with Sonia Gandhi too.

It is not easy to understand the inconsistency in the political stand of Nitish as he keeps changing his stand very frequently. But the Janata Dal (United) insisted on backing a turncoat from Congress, Balwantsinh Rajput, whose chance of victory was so remote.

Its own MLA Chhotubhai Vasava understood the situation better in the state as he has been a legislator for the sixth time. After all, JD(U) had no base whatsoever in Gujarat and he used to win on his own strength.

Stopping Ahmed Patel from entering the Upper House of Parliament might have politically suited the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, but JD(U) gained nothing from the gamble.

As in the case of the stand taken on the vice-presidential election, the party could have backed Ahmed Patel as he had a better chance of winning.

In the second marriage of political convenience, Nitish has exposed himself to the allegation that he has sat on the lap of the saffron party and is no more capable of taking independent decisions as in the previous arrangement with the BJP.

The Gujarat Rajya Sabha election drama has increased the suspicion that JD(U) would, unlike in the past, now dance to the tune of the BJP. If it voted independently against Naidu, it was simply because the decision in this regard was taken when it was a constituent of the Grand Alliance.