New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is within the nationwide capital, assembly leaders of like-minded events in a bid to deliver the opposition underneath one umbrella to tackle the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It was on this backdrop that Nitish’s ally and former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi too landed up in Delhi the place he led a delegation to satisfy Union residence minister Amit Shah.
Manjhi — who, just like the late Ram Vilas Paswan, is a seasoned weathervane of Bihar politics — was fast to disclaim rumours that his assembly with Shah had something to do with the prospect of shifting loyalties forward of 2024.
After his assembly with Shah, Manjhi additionally met Nitish in Delhi. He then instructed reporters, “I’ll stay with Nitish Kumar. He has all of the qualities one must change into the prime minister. He’s making an sincere effort to unite the opposition to make sure some change in 2024 and has stated that it’s immaterial whether or not he’s the PM candidate or someone else is.”
Requested about his father’s assembly with Shah, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) president Santosh Kumar Suman instructed ThePrint, “They sought an appointment with the PM over our long-pending demand however the PMO instructed them to satisfy Amit Shah. We’ve been demanding Bharat Ratna for Dashrath Manjhi for a very long time, there is no such thing as a politics concerned in it.”
Suman insisted that the aim of his father’s assembly with Shah was to induce the central authorities to think about the names of the mountain man late Dashrath Manjhi, Bihar’s first CM Shri Krishna Singh and his subsequent successor Karpoori Thakur for the Bharat Ratna.
The BJP, however, sees Manjhi’s assembly with Shah as step one in the direction of a political realignment in Bihar politics forward of 2024.
BJP MLA from Lakhisarai and Chief of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha instructed ThePrint, “Manjhi ji is a senior chief in Bihar and our doorways are all the time open for many who wish to strengthen the hand of PM Modi to offer good governance in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is anyway a sinking ship; he can’t deal with Bihar however is busy uniting opposition leaders.”
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‘Bihar BJP has extra elbow room’
Nitish, addressing a rally of the ruling Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Purnea on 25 February, had hinted that the BJP was “engaged on” Manjhi. The Janata Dal (United) chief additionally reassured Manjhi by declaring from the stage that he can be “taken care of”.
Requested what one could make of Manjhi having reiterated that he owes Nitish for making him CM in 2014, a Bihar BJP chief who spoke to ThePrint on situation of anonymity identified that even Upendra Kushwaha had as soon as stated that he would ‘reasonably die than be part of arms with the BJP’.
Kushwaha parted methods with the JD(U) and floated his personal social gathering, the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJP), in February this 12 months.
Manjhi, however, has shifted loyalties many occasions up to now after sensing floor realities. For example, he contested the 2015 Bihar meeting polls in alliance with the BJP.
In February this 12 months, Manjhi took a veiled dig at Deputy CM and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Tejashwi Yadav by reportedly saying that his son Santosh Kumar Suman was “extra certified to be the following CM of Bihar” as he was “extra educated”.
A Bihar BJP chief instructed ThePrint, “Manjhi has criticised Nitish Kumar many occasions up to now. He was the primary to lift the problem of Dalits being focused underneath the state’s prohibition regulation; he demanded the formation of a coordination committee to debate the problem however no motion was taken.”
“He (Manjhi) had requested for one more chief from his social gathering to be made both a state minister or an MLC however that didn’t occur. He went to the Mahagathbandhan in 2017, parted methods with it in 2017 and went again to it in 2022. This (assembly with Shah) is step one towards sending a message earlier than he switches over,” the chief added.
In the meantime, a Bihar BJP functionary added to the argument by stating that Mahagathbandhan has seven constituents, whereas the BJP has just one ally in Bihar.
“He (Manjhi) is aware of that he received’t get that many seats to contest as a part of the grand alliance. Paras (RLJP chief and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras) is our solely ally in Bihar. With us, he (Manjhi) can get a good variety of seats, as Ram Vilas Paswan did up to now. The BJP contested solely 17 seats (within the 2019 Lok Sabha polls). We’ve extra elbow room to accommodate smaller events,” added the functionary.
The BJP, if it needs to counter the Mahagathbandhan and its demand for a caste census, must enlist the assist of smaller events just like the Mukesh Sahni-led Vikassheel Insaan Celebration (VIP), Kushwaha’s RLJP, Manjhi’s HAM(S) and the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Celebration (Ram Vilas). Sahni, who was a vocal critic of the BJP in any case three VIP MLAs in Bihar converted to the BJP within the aftermath of the 2022 Bihar polls, was granted Y+ safety cowl by the Ministry of House Affairs (MHA) in February this 12 months.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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