Veteran Socialist and former JD (U) Rajya Sabha member Shivanand Tiwary has predicted that Nitish Kumar may not become Chief Minister of Bihar again after October-November Assembly polls in the State.
Tiwary, who is at present national vice-president of the RJD and has been close to both Nitish as well as Lalu Prasad, feels that by the time the Assembly polls are held later this year, the BJP may change its chief ministerial face.
The former MP cited two prime reasons why despite Amit Shah declaring that “the NDA would go to polls in Bihar under the leadership of Nitish”, there is a cloud of uncertainty over Nitish donning the mantle again.
“I feel there are two prime reasons for my apprehensions that the BJP may dump Nitish as the NDA’s CM face. First, Nitish has been at the helm for 15 years. But the lockdown and Covid-19 crisis has dented his ‘good governance’ image. Secondly, Bihar is the only State in the Hindi heartland, where the BJP has so far, since its inception, failed to have its Chief Minister. I, therefore, have a strong feeling that BJP may have a new CM face soon,” said Tiwary, who served as a Cabinet Minister in Rabri Devi regime before becoming a JD (U) Rajya Sabha member and eventually returned to the RJD fold in 2015.
The JD (U) has taken umbrage at Tiwary’s prediction. “It will be better if Tiwary minds his own business and remains concerned more about the RJD rather than thinking about the opponent’s camp,” said Nitish’s key aide and Bihar Minister Neeraj Kumar.
The BJP too hit back at Tiwary. “It's advisable that you plan for the RJD and its alliance partners. This may help you retrieve the lost political ground,” said senior BJP leader and Nitish’s Cabinet colleague Nand Kishore Yadav.