Opposition willing to overcome 'trust deficit' in Nitish to corner BJP

As Nitish Kumar takes another u-turn, there is scepticism and suspicion among his new friends about the JD(U) supremo but they are willing to overcome a “trust deficit” due to his past action in order not to “waste any opportunity to corner” the BJP.

They are jubilant too as they find it as revenge served not cold but instant in Bihar for what the ruling BJP did in Maharashtra by dismantling Uddhav Thackeray’s government and his hold over Shiv Sena. The predominant theme was that the BJP needs to be rebuffed and shown that the Opposition has not surrendered its ‘mojo’.

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The unravelling of the JD(U)-led government in Bihar was a work in progress for some time with JD(U) and RJD carefully scripting it with Nitish meeting Lalu Prasad at a hospital, Tejaswi Yadav halting his missiles at the Chief Minister and Nitish stepping up his anti-BJP rhetoric while all agreeing on the JD(U) chief continuing at the helm in the new arrangement.

At the moment, the Opposition leaders are not worried or bothered about what Nitish would do after a year or two, as they identify their primary objective is to contain the BJP, which they believe “could do whatever in its power to ensure that the Opposition not getting to the power corridors”.

“Where is the question of reliability? Times are different. With everybody, there is a problem. These are not normal times and we cannot go with magnifying glasses,” a top Opposition leader shot back when asked how they could rely on Nitish who had changed sides at unexpected times.

The leaders point out how the RJD, the single-largest party in Bihar Assembly, is ready to play second fiddle to Nitish despite the latter using CBI cases against Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi to walk out of the Grand Alliance in 2017. “Defeating BJP is the primary objective. All other things are secondary,” the leader said.

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For his new allies, what Nitish intends to do in future is not clear but they believe that the latest development would be a signal to the current and future allies. Nitish also kept his cards close to the chest as he instructed his MPs and MLAs to vote in favour of NDA in Presidential and Vice Presidential elections though he was subtly sending a message by “boycotting” a number of meetings called by Modi and the Union government.

The Opposition parties are also keeping a close watch at the political developments as they fear that the BJP could delay the government formation. “We can say with finality only when it is on paper. They are capable of engineering defections or imposing President’s Rule,” a second Opposition leader said.

Till the last minute many in the Opposition were not sure whether Nitish would bite the bullet or use it as a bargaining chip to manoeuvre more space in the NDA and on Monday, a senior Congress leader said, “wait till he puts in his papers. He can do anything.” All, but, were willing to forget the unpleasant past but the question still remains hanging – at what cost.

Nitish’s friends and foes – which interchanges as he changes political colours – haven’t forgotten what he did in 2013 to NDA when he walked out over making Narendra Modi the Prime Ministerial candidate.

It repeated in 2017 when he used the CBI cases against Tejaswi to come out of the Grand Alliance while alleged attempts by the BJP now to wean away JD(U) MLAs in a repeat of Maharashtra episode has prompted him to once again change his tracks.