Amid buzz of rift between two ruling alliance partners of Bihar — the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal (United) — and the latter’s chief Nitish Kumar’s possible switch to the BJP-led NDA fold, Mr. Kumar, along with a Cabinet colleague, on Tuesday met Governor Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar. Mr. Kumar, though, did not say anything on the meeting but Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said “khela hobe” (something will happen) while the RJD leaders said “all is well”.
Amid ongoing tussle between the ruling JD(U) and the Opposition BJP over the venue to mark centenary commemoration of the late Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur on January 24 in Patna, the Central government is all set to come out with a commemorative coin in the denomination of ₹100 to mark the birth centenary of Thakur. BJP sources in the State told The Hindu that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too might come up with a piece on Thakur in prominent newspapers on January 24.
After paying floral tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to mark his 127th birth anniversary on “Parakram Diwas”, Mr. Kumar, along with Cabinet colleague Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, went straight to the Raj Bhawan to meet the Governor. The meeting lasted over 40 minutes, but Mr. Kumar left the Raj Bhawan without speaking to media persons. Mr. Choudhary is considered close to Mr. Kumar and is Minister for Finance, Commercial Taxes and Parliamentary Affairs in the Cabinet. Earlier in the day at the State function to commemorate the “Parakram Diwas”, Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav too was along with Mr. Kumar, but Mr. Yadav was not present when Mr. Kumar went to meet the Governor.
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Many speculations
The sudden meeting of Mr. Kumar and the Governor triggered several possible speculations. Mr. Manjhi tweeted in Hindi on social media platform X saying, “in Bengali, it is said, ‘Khela Hobe’, in Magahi, ‘Khela Hokto’ and in Bhojpuri, ‘Khela Hokhi’. As, for the rest, you yourself are wise…”. Mr. Manjhi had earlier said that Mr. Kumar could “come to the NDA fold anytime and change the government in Bihar”. The ruling RJD leaders, though, asserted “all is well” in the alliance while the alliance partner JD(U) said, “the meeting [between Mr. Kumar and the Governor] might be for Cabinet reshuffle or regarding pending appointment of vice-chancellors of several universities”. Recently in an interview to a vernacular newspaper, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah, on Mr. Kumar’s likely return to the BJP alliance, had said that “the BJP would mull, if any proposal [from Nitish] comes” and the statement had sparked fresh speculations in the State political circle.
For the last several days, the buzz in State’s political circles is that Mr. Kumar has not been “happy with the casual approach of the Congress regarding the affairs of the opposition bloc INDIA (Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance) and he may take another U-turn to come into the BJP-led NDA. Earlier, in August 2022, Mr. Kumar had severed ties with the BJP to form mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government along with the RJD, the Congress and the Left parties to remain in power. Recently, Mr. Kumar became party’s national president after the untimely resignation of party MP from Munger and close associate Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. Mr. Singh’s growing proximity to RJD chief Lalu Prasad is said to be the reason behind his sudden resignation from the post of party president. Mr. Singh, though, had later denied this saying “all these are frivolous and politically motivated allegations by a section of media against him”.
The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) claimed on January 22 that Mr. Kumar would attend Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra when it would enter Bihar on January 29 in Kishanganj and the public meeting at Purnia on January 30. But no confirmation of Mr. Kumar’s participation at the meeting has come yet from the JD(U).
Also Read | Lalu-Tejashwi call on Nitish amid buzz over change of guard in Bihar
Commemorative coin
Meanwhile, apparently eyeing the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) votes, the Central government has decided to come out with a commemorative ₹100 coin on the centenary of former Chief Minister, the late Karpoori Thakur. “I had made a request to the Central government to issue the commemorative coin in the name of Karpoori Thakur ji and if the government has decided to issue it, I’ll be more than happy”, State BJP chief Samrat Choudhury told The Hindu over phone. The face of the coin, said a BJP leader, will bear the Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with “Satyamev Jayate” inscribed below and flanked with the words “Bharat” in Devnagari script on the left while “India” in English on the right side. On the reverse side of the coin, the portrait of Karpoori Thakur will be there with the inscription “Birth centenary of the late Shri Karpoori Thakur” in Devnagri and English and the year “2024” below the portrait, he said.
A senior State BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that “Prime Minister Modi might also write a piece on the veteran socialist leader and the late Karpoori Thakur”. Karpoori Thakur hailed from Extremely Backward Class (EBC) and was a prominent leader of the backward classes. The Bihar caste survey report published on October 2 had pointed out EBC as the largest population group in the State with 36.01% and along with Other Backward Class (27.12%), the population of backward class people in the State goes over 63%.
