NEW DELHI: With JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar becoming Bihar Chief Minister for the record ninth time on Sunday, a review of the veteran leader’s career reveals he prefers electoral pragmatism to political perceptions about how his decisions would make him look.
Since he first quit the NDA in 2013 ending a 17-year alliance over Narendra Modi’s elevation as BJP’s PM face, Nitish has switched camps on four occasions. Sunday was the fifth. Most swaps barring the first in 2013 have been preceded by recces to assess which side of the electoral fence is greener.
After posting the JD(U)’s worst-ever Lok Sabha performance of two seats (down from 20 which it won in 2009 as part of the NDA) in 2014, a year after dumping the BJP-led NDA, Nitish contested the 2015 Bihar elections in alliance with the RJD, Congress and Left. He became the CM but soon began veering towards the BJP, backing Modi on demonetisation and GST. The 2017 alteration of equations coincided with the CBI booking RJD chief Lalu Yadav, his wife and son Tejashwi in an alleged scam regarding award of tender to maintain two railway hotels and Modi’s strong anti-graft pitch.
Nitish slowly distanced himself from the grand alliance and returned to the NDA ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which the BJP-led bloc swept with 39 out of the 40 segments. The JD(U) won 16 (up from two in 2014), BJP 17 and the LJP 6.
In 2020, Nitish contested Bihar elections with the BJP and became the CM again even though the BJP won more seats (78) than the JD(U)’s 45. All went well till the veteran socialist sensed the BJP’s attempts to split his party. He acted quickly, dumping the NDA on August 9, 2022, but stayed CM, again with the RJD and Congress backing.
Nitish’s latest move too appears rooted in political survival instincts. First, he replaced Lallan Singh as JD(U) chief having got a whiff that Lalu was working with Singh to install son Tejashwi as CM. Never in his career as the longest-serving Bihar CM has Nitish disregarded attempts to usurp his chair. Every time he sensed a challenge, he swapped, always staying CM.