While Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar “laadle mukhyamantri (dear chief minister)” at their joint rally in Bihar’s Bhagalpur on February 24, several JD(U) leaders were not enthused by it. They had expected PM Modi to declare Nitish as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate in the state Assembly elections slated for October-November this year, even as state BJP leaders have been issuing contradictory statements on the issue.
While no JD(U) leader has criticised the PM in this regard, Nitish’s son Nishant Kumar — who is yet to join politics — demanded a day after the Bhagalpur rally that the NDA announce his father as the CM candidate for the upcoming polls.
On PM Modi referring to Nitish as “laadle”, Nishant said, “As the BJP is part of the (ruling) coalition, it was natural for the PM to use such an expression for my father.”
The induction of seven new ministers, all from the BJP, into the Nitish Cabinet after the posts had been vacant for over a year appears to have further put the JD(U) on a weaker wicket. Though the Cabinet expansion is as per the agreed formula — the BJP was allocated 21 berths, the JD(U) 13, and one each for the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and an Independent — it is for the first time since 2005 that Nitish has agreed to expand his Cabinet to full capacity. Moreover, one of the BJP ministers belongs to the Kurmi caste, which is also Nitish’s community, and another is from the Kushwaha community, another OBC group that the JD(U) is trying to woo.