PATNA: The Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces for a short period of four years has not only triggered violent protests, but also deepened the trust deficit and singed the relationship between NDA partners BJP and JD(U) in Bihar.
The open attack by none other than BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal on the governance in Bihar under CM Nitish Kumar and an aggressive counter-attack by JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh on Saturday over the violence and protesters targeting BJP offices and leaders in the state must be music to the ears of Lalu Prasad and his RJD, which is waiting in the wings to grab any opportunity to be back in power.
The Centre’s decision on Saturday to provide ‘Y’ category security to Jaiswal and nine other BJP leaders in Bihar seems to have rubbed JD(U) the wrong way, in view of Jaiswal’s allegations. Jaiswal said had the police and administration been active, this kind of violence in Bihar on Friday was not possible. “The way BJP has been targeted in the name of protests raises many doubts,” the state BJP chief had said.
JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar reacted on Sunday and said protecting the future of the country’s youths was more important than providing security cover to BJP leaders. “A positive initiative should be taken to protect the future of youths,” the JD(U) MLC said.
Reacting to Lalan’s remarks against Jaiswal questioning the good governance of Nitish, BJP OBC Morcha national general secretary Nikhil Anand referred to an article, critical of governance in Bihar, published in Organiser, the English version of RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya dated June 10. “We are people who learn from criticism and move forward. Jaiswal ji’s statement should have been taken as suggestive and the JD(U) chief’s language was not like a political discourse. In BJP, no one becomes the party president because of someone’s choice. But BJP-JD(U) differences should not be given much prominence,” Anand told TOI.
However, another BJP spokesman, Arvind Singh, on Sunday termed the JDU) chief as a “Manthra” of the Ramayana fame, “who will cause ‘vanvas’ (parting of ways) somewhere”. “If they have such a huge political experience, then why Bihar was burning? Why the police and district administration remained mute spectators? It was a typical case of ‘Nero fiddled while Rome burned’...Need to beware of Manthras,” he said.
Though both the BJP and JD(U) have serious ideological differences on issues like population control legislation, uniform civil code and school syllabus in history, they are together just to remain in power is no secret at all. BJP apprehends seriously that Nitish may go with RJD again. That’s why despite being against caste census, BJP reluctantly supported Nitish on conducting caste-based headcount in Bihar, but with riders that Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims should not be counted. The apprehension of Nitish going back to RJD forces BJP leadership to “tolerate” JD(U) attacks on its policies and programmes. When asked about it, a BJP leader, preferring anonymity, said Nitish is inclined towards RJD, which wanted to provoke caste frenzy in the name of caste census.
“Have you seen any RJD or JD(U) leader targeting each other’s party since the bonhomie Nitish showed at an iftar hosted by Lalu’s heir apparent Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. But now it’s enough as we can’t let down our party workers and voters,” he said while referring to Lalan saying Jaiswal has lost balance (mental) while criticising Nitish’s good governance.
The BJP leader also said the JD(U) demand for review of the Agnipath scheme sent a message down the line of administration that the government had its support to the protests. Hence, policemen remained silent, he alleged.
When pointed out that BJP central leadership may like the alliance to continue till the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he said it hardly makes any difference and reminded of the 2014 parliamentary polls which BJP-led NDA had won hands down against the JD(U)- RJD combine.
Political analysts also feel that in the eventuality of Nitish going with RJD again, the governor will invite BJP, the single largest party with 77 MLAs in the 243-member house. But if RJD manages to break 4 out of the 5 AIMIM MLAs, it will emerge as the single largest party with 80 (76+4) MLAs. That may cause an “earthquake” in the dicey political field of Bihar. JD(U) has 45 MLAs, Congress 19, Left combined 16 and independent 1 (Sumit Singh, who is a minister in the Nitish government).
Another notable factor is Union steel minister RCP Singh, once considered very close to Nitish, who clipped his wings by denying him a Rajya Sabha seat recently for the third consecutive term and creating a situation for the former JD(U) national president to resign as a cabinet minister on or before July 7, when his term in the Upper House ends. Political observers feel RCP’s growing proximity to BJP and his efforts to run JD(U) organisation parallel to the one under Lalan forced Nitish to sideline him.
HAM(S) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, with his 4 MLAs being part of the NDA in Bihar, never misses a chance to embarrass the BJP and sometimes even Nitish on the liquor prohibition policy. On Sunday, HAM(S) spokesman Danish Rizwan said BJP is criticising the government though it is a part of that. He reiterated his party’s demand for a coordination committee in the NDA.
Meanwhile, poll strategist Prashant Kishor tweeted on Sunday, “Bihar is burning and the leaders of both the parties (BJP and JDU) are busy sparring and making counter-allegations against each other, instead of solving the matter.”
