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Sunday, May 17, 2009
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Nitish Kumar: a vote for development

K. Balchand

His hopes for bargaining power put paid by UPA’s show

— Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar showing the victory sign in Patna on Saturday after the good performance of the JD(U) in the Lok Sabha elections in the State.

NEW DELHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s good showing in the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday completed his hold on his party and the State but his hopes of gaining bargaining power in the formation of the new government have been put paid by the UPA’s equally spectacular show at the national level.

Mr. Kumar’s bold statement that his support would come at a price stemmed from his confidence that his political opponents can be marginalised and his hold on the Janata Dal (United) established. Stressing that it was a vote for development, Mr. Kumar pressed his demand for a special status for Bihar.

Mr. Kumar, who was sought out by both the Congress and the Third Front ahead of the counting process, has taken the stand that it is for the UPA government to meet the demand. He emphasised that the Congress had supported his demand and should not go back on its word.

The Congress had, however, made it clear while sympathising with the cause of Bihar, it was for Mr. Kumar to spell out what exactly he wanted from the Centre to remove the backwardness of the State.

By attributing his victory to the development agenda, Mr. Kumar sought to corner both Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, both of whom formed an alliance of their own leaving the Congress out of the formation, charging that the people had rejected their negative politics.

‘Big mistake’

Both Mr. Prasad and Mr. Paswan regretted their decision to contest on their own. The admission of their “big mistake” stemmed from their realisation that the Congress cornered a section of the secular votes, besides those whom the NDA government in Bihar antagonised.

The other factor, of course, was the new social equation that Mr. Kumar engineered. Mr. Prasad maintained that he was still part of the UPA and that his relations with the Congress were the same as before the elections.

Whether Mr. Prasad’s stand will hamper Mr. Kumar’s options remains to be seen.

Mr. Prasad shot back at Mr. Kumar on the issue of special status pointing out that the NDA government, in which Mr. Kumar was a Minister, had rejected the same demand from the then Chief Minister, Rabri Devi.

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