JD(U)-BJP split: Why Nitish Kumar has earned the moniker of ‘Paltu Ram’ in politics

Oops, he did it again. Nitish Kumar has decided to end his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar. The chief minister took the decision after meeting with Janata Dal (United) MLAs in Patna on Tuesday.  Kumar will stake a claim to form the government in the state with the support of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other Opposition parties. Since Sunday, a buzz of an imminent split between the two parties — the JD(U) and the BJP — has been growing louder after Kumar skipped the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the fourth such meet that the JD(U) boss skipped, prompting one and all to question the relations between the two old allies. ***** Explained: Does the growing rift between BJP and JD(U) mean a split is inevitable in Bihar? From Nitish’s closest confidante to ‘Amit Shah’s man’: Who is RCP Singh at the centre of JD(U)-BJP drama? Can Nitish Kumar hold on to power in Bihar if the JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP comes to an end? ***** In fact, the speculation of a split grew even louder when the RJD said they were ready to embrace Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his JD(U) if he broke ranks with the BJP . “If Nitish chooses to dump National Democratic Alliance (NDA), what choice do we have except to embrace him (‘gale lagaenge’). RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the chief minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along,” said RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary. While Nitish Kumar’s decision will change the political scenario in Bihar, many political pundits and observers note that it won’t be surprising. After all, in a career spanning four decades, the JD(U) chief has turned on his allies and changed partners as many as four times, earning him the moniker of ‘Paltu Ram’ — a name given by Lalu Prasad, his one-time ally. Walking out on ‘bade bhai’ Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav met each other in their student days and became comrades-in-arms in Jayprakash Narayan’s agitation. Those days, Nitish would call Lalu his ‘bade bhai’ (elder brother). In March of 1990, Nitish played an instrumental role in helping his senior, Lalu Prasad, to become chief minister of the state. However, in 1994, he rebelled against Lalu Yadav’s control of the Janata Dal in Bihar. He allied with veteran socialist leader George Fernandes to form the Samata Party. In 2003, the George Fernandes-led Samata Party and the Sharad Yadav-led Janata Dal (United) merged. Ending ties with BJP After Nitish went his separate way from Lalu, they became political rivals, pushing the JD(U) chief towards the BJP. In 1998, the JD(U) and the BJP alliance was born with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the chairman. Nitish held both, Vajpayee and LK Advani, in high regard. However, this alliance, which seemed unshakeable, crumbled in 2013 after 13-years after Narendra Modi was appointed as the chairman of the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign committee. At the time, Nitish had said that the split came as he believed that the NDA should have a leader with a “clean and secular image”. After walking out of the NDA then, Nitish had given a call for “Sangh-mukt Bharat”. Nitish had also gone on to declare that “mitti mein mil jayenge, BJP ke saath wapas nahi jayenge (I would prefer to be reduced to dust rather than going back to BJP)”.

‘Everybody knows that in your (Nitish’s) political career you took help of so many people and deserted many’

Splitsville for Mahagathbandhan In the run-up to the November 2015 elections to the 243-member state Assembly, Nitish joined hands with the archrival Lalu Prasad-led RJD and the Congress and some other smaller parties to form a ‘Grand Alliance’ which won 178 seats, with Nitish again taking over as the chief minister. The honeymoon ended for the two friends-turned-foes-turned-friends when differences between them started to emerge. In 2017, the ties worsened when the CBI conducted raids at Lalu’s premises in an alleged IRCTC scam in which the then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu’s son, was also named as one of the accused for allegedly being a beneficiary of the land transfers from the RJD supporters for railway jobs. When Nitish demanded an explanation from his deputy, the RJD saw it as a means to embarrass the party. Listening to ‘the call of his soul’, Nitish Kumar then decided to return to the NDA fold. As the Indian Express reports, Nitish made one final call to Lalu to inform him about his decision. A stunned Lalu could tell him nothing except, with resignation, that “So you are going.” After stepping out of the Mahagathbandhan, Nitish then joined hands with the NDA again and formed the government with BJP’s Sushil Modi as his deputy. The RJD supremo, Lalu, saw Kumar’s acts as a betrayal” and held him responsible for the disintegration of the Grand Alliance of RJD, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and Congress for personal gains. “Tejashwi was just an excuse… Match was fixed between him and BJP to form a government together,” Prasad was quoted as saying. “Even if Tejashwi had tendered his resignation, he (Kumar) would have gone ahead with his plan to split the alliance.” Accusing Kumar of being an “opportunist” politician, the RJD chief called him “Paltu Ram” (turncoat). “Everybody knows that in your (Nitish’s) political career you took help of so many people and deserted many.” “Say truthfully, isn’t it a fact that you (Kumar) had come to my house with folded hands to join forces for the 2015 Bihar poll and pleaded that now we have grown old so give me (Kumar) one term … But after he saw Tejashwi doing good work, he tried to make him a sacrificial goat to have several terms as CM,” he said. Tenuous NDA ties After his return to the NDA fold, it appeared that all was well. However, cracks emerged during the 2020 Assembly polls, when the BJP was in two minds about declaring Nitish as the chief ministerial candidate again and contesting an equal number of seats. Ties continued to remain fraught even after the alliance won the polls — they have had differing views on multiple issues, including the proposal for population control, caste census, demand for special category status for Bihar, and the denial of Central university status to the Patna University. Now, only time will tell if Nitish Kumar will do another volte-face. With inputs from agencies