Apologising for quitting as Bihar CM: Nitish tries pulling a Kejriwal, but it won't work

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar’s latest gambit to fortify himself against the might of the Modi wave seems to be straight out of Arvind Kejriwal’s book.

Amid the looming political crisis in Bihar, the former Chief Minister recently said in an interview that he is ready to apologise to the public for his decision to quit as the CM. Speaking to the Economic Times, Nitish said:

“The way things began to slide after Manjhi took over was certainly a cause of alarm. I kept ignoring, hoping he will mend himself. The people must be blaming me for imposing a CM who was doing everything to tarnish Bihar’s image. On hindsight, I think I committed a mistake by resigning. I will not shy away from seeking a public apology for this. I think I committed a mistake and I should admit it to the people. At the same time, I have learnt a lesson. In future, I will not prematurely tender my resignation.”

The statement and the strategy is way too similar to that of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who quit as Delhi CM in just 49-days of oath taking. Although, borrowing Kejriwal’s approach in Bihar might not work too well for Nitish.

There was an amount of honesty and level of genuineness when Kejriwal said, “People of Delhi are annoyed with us that we quit. They thought that they were left in lurch. We made a mistake and apologise to them.” It was coming from a first-time politician who, like senior Firspost editor  G Pramod Kumar argues in this article, practiced politics that was “spontaneous, pro-poor and uniting.”

But Nitish, who quit after the BJP trounced the JD(U) in Bihar during the Lok Sabha election, is not in the same position as Kejriwal. Nitish’s decision to resign was not a mistake, it was him taking responsibility for a decision that ultimately cost his party in the Lok Sabha election - which was to split from the BJP after Narendra Modi was appointed the chief of the BJP election campaign.

So what is he going to apologise for? Taking responsibility? As things stand, such an ‘apology’ won’t look sincere. In effect what he seems to be apologising for, is making a ‘bad’ choice in appointing Manjhi as the CM. However even here, Manjhi has not really done anything that would merit him being removed as the CM, apart from praising Modi. While this may be a cardinal sin in the eyes of Nitish and Lalu Prasad Yadav, it is not something that would adversely affect the population of the state.

The chance that Nitish is taking before the Bihar Assembly Election, which is scheduled for later this year, could boomerang with the former CM paying dearly for it. Maybe ousting Manjhi, a dalit leader who was appointed as the Bihar CM by Nitish himself, wasn’t the smartest idea that the JD(U) strongman has had till now. Like this New Indian Express article  points out, Nitish is so “eager to cling to power” that he has turned into a bigger dictator than he accused Narendra Modi of being. Speaking to Economic Times, Nitish said he was sure that Manjhi was playing into the hands of the BJP leadership which caused huge embarrassment to JD(U) in Bihar. On more than one occasion, Nitish cited the example of  theDelhi mandate and said, “Delhi has replied, it is now Bihar’s turn,” but Nitish might be disappointed because Delhi might not be repeated in Bihar.

Therefore it’s unlikely that Nitish ‘doing a Kejriwal’ would actually convince.

Firstpost editor R Jagannathan in this article stresses on the same thing. “Despite support from Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee, both anti-Modi leaders, Kejriwal’s victory is not theirs. In fact, it is the antithesis of their brand of politics. And, at the end of the day, the BJP is still the party with 32 percent of the Delhi vote. The Nitish Kumars and Mamatas made no difference to AAP. If AAP does well in Delhi, it will actually turn out to be a bigger threat to them and the Congress." 

Nitish forging an alliance with former political foe Lalu Prasad could be another dent that will be hard for the former CM to recover from. Like senior BJP leader and former deputy CM of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitishji can’t become a Kejriwal by remaining in the company of Laluji and Congress.”

Another factor that Nitish should take into account, is that the BJP’s loss in Delhi does not mean it has lost popularity elsewhere as well. Like senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said, “It is a flawed conclusion that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has come to an end. If he had not invested himself so much (in poll rallies), it would not have dented his personality at all.”