Nitish as Kingmaker: As JD(U) Leader Puts to Rest All Doubts about Political Future

From being called “Paltu Kumar” to a possible kingmaker: life is coming full circle for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The Janata Dal (United) appears to be on course to win about 15 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, at least three more than the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was being seen as the senior partner in the run-up to these polls. The JD(U) numbers are being viewed as even more creditable considering the party fought on 16 seats. The BJP fought on 17 seats while Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) got 6, and Jitan Ram Majhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha got 1.

JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha called the results and trends a reaffirmation of Nitish Kumar’s leadership. “It is a referendum on Mr Kumar’s work for development…He is Vikas Purush of the state and people have voted for him,” Kushwaha said.

It was speculated since Nitish Kumar’s return to the National Democratic Alliance fold that this election will be fought by the coalition in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not the CM. The results, however, show that the “Sushashan Babu” image of Nitish lives on. The opposition tried to label him a turncoat but failed to make it a political issue. Even Tejashwi Yadav was careful in his choice of words about Nitish after the split.

The credit war for the 5 lakh jobs given by the erstwhile Nitish-Tejashwi government was a talking point in Bihar. While Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders like Misa Bharti claimed full credit for Tejashwi, the JD(U) was quick to point out that it was implemented by CM Nitish Kumar.

Nitish also assured the Muslims that their interests wouldn’t suffer after his return to the NDA. “Kahe ke liye aap BJP ke khiaf hain? Hum jo bhi kaam aapke liye kiye wo unke saath hi na kiye. Wo kabhi roke nahi (Why are you against BJP? Whatever work I did for you, I did in an alliance with them. They didn’t stop me),” Nitish said in Katihar, addressing the Muslim voters. He also reminded the community in his outreach exercises that no communal riots had happened in Bihar since he took power.