To political observers, Nitish’s latest U-turn came as no surprise, as he earns the sobriquet Palturam “(one who frequently changes sides)” in Indian politics.
– Abdul Bari Masoud
Mar jaanaa kabool hai, unke saath jaanaa mujhe kabhi kabool nahin hai (I prefer dying to going with the BJP). It was an emphatic statement by Bihar Chief Minister and RJD(U) president Nitish Kumar after he rejoined the RJD(U)-led Bihar grand alliance.
In April last, BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah proclaimed at a public meeting in Nawada, Bihar, that the doors of the BJP “have been shut forever for Nitish Kumar”.
It’s safe to argue that Nitish Kumar’s latest brazen desertion and the BJP’s warm re-embrace of him represent an ugly display of rank opportunism in Indian politics, given the aforementioned previous pronouncements of both leaders. Certainly, in the upcoming general election, both parties have undoubtedly set a new standard for marriage of convenience, which exposes their susceptibility and insecurity.
To political observers, Nitish’s latest U-turn came as no surprise, as he earns the sobriquet Palturam “(one who frequently changes sides)” in Indian politics. He swore in as Bihar CM for the ninth time, setting a sort of world record. It was his fifth turnaround since he became Chief Minister for the first time in November 2005. First, he severed his relationship with the BJP in June 2013 in protest at the announcement of then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as prime minister candidate general elections 2014, citing secular grounds.
Qurban Ali, former BBC journalist and keen observer of the socialist movement, said the decision to award Bharat Ratna to former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur and the U-turn of Nitish was not mere coincidence. He told Radiance that it’s interesting to note that Karpoori Thakur, the mentor of Nitish, was first appointed Deputy Chief Minister in 1967 with the help of RSS and Jana Sangh. Thakur was again appointed Chief Minister in the Janata government in 1970 and 1977. Now that the BJP government has awarded the same Karpoori Thakur Bharat Ratna, the followers of Lohia-Jaiprakash-Karpoori Thakur are worshiping the feet of the same RSS, and Nitish hopes to take advantage of this sentiment in the upcoming elections.
Its origin lies in the politics of non-Congressism started by socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia and later expanded upon by Karpoori Thakur and Jayaprakash Narayan during the latter’s Sampoorna Kranti campaign in the 1970s, who were in alliance with the RSS.
In 2015, when Nitish broke ties with the BJP and formed government with Lalu Prasad, he gave the slogan ‘RSS-Mukt Bharat’. However, Nitish turned around and sat in the BJP’s lap once more a few days later. Qurban Ali said he turned around and sat in Lalu’s lap once more seventeen months ago, and he has now made his way back to the place where the leaven belonged – in RSS’s lap!
Political strategist Prashant Kishor, formerly thought to be close to Nitish, publicly opposed the latter’s decision to change sides and join the NDA.
“If you follow my statements for the past year, you will find that I am the only person who has been saying that Nitish Kumar can flip anytime. But today it is proved that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah too can vie for the ‘Palturam’ moniker,” he told a newspaper.
The Modi-Shah duo, according to Kishor, may also be dubbed the “palturam” team because they have been criticizing Nitish for alleged corruption and poor governance, but they have also been quick to welcome him back into their coalition. Kishor prophesied that Nitish’s time in the NDA would not last. In the upcoming assembly elections, he continued, Nitish’s party will not secure more than 20 seats, regardless of its coalition with BJP. On top of that, he claimed to have predicted Nitish’s return to the NDA.
Echoing his views, Quamar Ashraf, a media analyst currently working for UN agencies, said that in Bihar, people know very well that Nitish is power-hungry and cannot live without it. “Nitish Kumar realizes that if his party doesn’t perform well in the parliamentary elections, it could dissolve into obscurity. With the perception that the Modi-led BJP is likely to do well in the 2024 elections, he made the decision to join them.” Bihar is also concerned about the future of his party, JD-U, said Ashraf.
“He simply craves for crown, not for coalition,” said Ashraf.
Another reason for his decision could be his fear of retribution from the Modi-Shah regime, according to Ashraf. “It is well-known that the current dispensation at the Center is harsh on opposition leaders, and Nitish Kumar might be feeling vulnerable.” Ashraf did not buy his argument that the parties in India were indecisive about seat sharing. Even BJP MP Dilip Ghosh from Bengal made fun of Nitish by calling him “Palturam” when rumors were afloat of his jumping to the NDA camp. Ghosh remarked, “People want to know what Nitish Kumar is up to. Will he be a Palturam again, or will he stand by the expectations of the people?”
INDIA bloc reaction
Opposition parties also attacked Nitish for his violent face. Congress and RJD expressed regret and claimed to have known this was going to happen because of Nitish’s history of abruptly changing political allegiance. The RJD president, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Bihar’s deputy chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav, have made references to this, and today it came to pass. When Nitish left the “Mahagathbandhan,” Mallikarjun Kharge remarked, “Aaya ram gaya ram.” RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari said, “What was left with him? The master is the public. It keeps an eye on everything.”
The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) said Nitish will be remembered in political history as the “great Palturam” who loves jumping on the command of the BJP. “It’s not surprising that he has done this ‘Volte-Face’ once again because he seems to be addicted to this kind of behavior,” NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in a statement. The NCP also dubbed the BJP the “madari” of Nitish.
Given the ruling party’s track record, there was also no surprise when the BJP broke bread with Nitish again. Addressing a public meeting in Bihar on April 2, 2023, Amit Shah reiterated that the doors of the BJP have been shut forever for Nitish Kumar and also asserted that Kumar would never be able to nurse his dream of becoming the Prime Minister as there was “no vacancy” for the post.
BJP’s insecurity?
So, why did the BJP open the doors to Nitish when it was on the crest of a so-called Ram Mandir wave?
Despite the blatant misuse of religious sentiments centered around Ayodhya and these recent electoral victories, BJP appears to be unsure about the outcome of 2024 elections.
The BJP has resorted to brazen and aggressive misuse of the ED and money power to engineer defections among the opposition parties ruling in states and forging alliances with former rivals, hoping to improve its Lok Sabha electoral prospects. It has done this earlier in Maharashtra, later in Karnataka, and now in Bihar, the JD(U) has set an inglorious record for the largest number of flip-flops. People in these states, who defeated BJP, will teach such turncoats a lesson, said CPI(M).
Despite JD(U) deserting INDIA bloc and collaborating with BJP, we will make all efforts to further strengthen this formation and continue the activities to defeat BJP to safeguard the secular democratic character of our Constitutional Republic, it added.
