Nitish Kumar is the MOST RELIABLE and TRUSTWORTHY leader if we follow his track record that reminds one of SUCCESSFUL CHAMELEON by changing its hues a hundred times. No other politician can ever beat him. Sure.“
This was the comment made by Easwaran Lakshminarayana on India India Today’s report dated June 4 on “ Nitish Kumar’s Mega Oppon Meet in Patna postponed to June 23.
Earlier, Ex CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav had described Nitish Kumar as “ Paltu Ram”( turncoat)on August 2, 2017.
That was the time when referring to CM Nitish Kumar’s proclamation that PM Narendra Modi could not be beaten in the 2019 election, Lalu had said the opportunist in Nitish was in the habit of changing sides to serve his interest.
In 2023, both Ex CM Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar have again become friends. While they can be described as ‘bade bhai’ and ‘chhote bhai’ respectively, they appear desperate to defeat PM Modi-led BJP in the forthcoming general elections of 2024.
Toward the same end, as per Lalu Yadav’s old method- the one-to-one fight between Oppon and BJP. Nitish Kumar, like many opposition leaders including WB CM Mamata Banerjee, TN CM MK Stalin and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal knows that the operational goal for the Opposition meeting is said to ensure a common candidate against the BJP on at least 450 seats already identified by Nitish as potential locations to beat the ruling BJP led by PM Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, 2024.
Everybody knows that an opposition parties meeting that was supposed to take place in Bihar’s Patna on June 12 was postponed and pushed to June 23. The reason for the postponement of the meeting, which was to be chaired by CM Nitish Kumar, was not disclosed.
However, the Congress-led by Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge is learnt to be not in favour of allowing Nitish Kumar to lead the Opposition meeting as it is tantamount to lowering the image of his party’s star - Rahul Gandhi. In case, Kharge and Rahul attend the meeting, Nitish Kumar may not be allowed to “chair” it.
Notwithstanding the fate of opposition unity, the Congress high command is aware that in the BJP’s superb performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it got 38 per cent of the votes polled. This number for the BJP-led NDA was 45 per cent.
In effect, this means PM MODI’s party didn’t get 62 per cent ( 55 per cent if NDA comprises Akali Dal) of the votes cast in 2019.
Against this background, Nitish appears desperate to rise in national politics through “opposition unity” since his command in Bihar politics has slipped to the RJD led by the Lalu Yadav family. However, here again, his Chameleon character has not made him prudent enough to realise that all those who didn’t vote for the Modi-led BJP in 2019 were not necessarily anti- Modi led BJP voters. But, according to India Today’s opinion “ for the choices they( voters) had, sections of them would have perhaps gone for the Modi-led BJP.
Apparently, buoyed by Karnataka victory, Congress's high command does not appear to stand under the Nitish umbrella.
This is why perhaps Nitish looks to have lost shine on his face and appears to be walking over a tightrope. On his left is the devil and on his right, the deep sea.No body knows whether he will sail through or hide in the forest or dwell in political exile.