How Nitish chose not to become ‘INDIA’ convenor

“Desh ka PM kaisa ho, Nitish Kumar jaisa ho” (The country needs a PM like Nitish Kumar). As the voices rose steadily in pitch, the Bihar chief minister took a brief pause from his Teacher’s Day speech at Patna University and tried to silence the slogan-shouting youth, saying “aree chupp, ruko na jara” (quiet, hold on). But the crowd resumed its chorus soon.

“Nitish ji may not be the ‘INDIA’ alliance’s PM candidate, but he is the pivot of the coalition. Though the CM does not want it (to be PM), the slogans are a reflection of public sentiment,” says Nikhil Mandal, Janata Dal (United) general secretary of Bihar. Perhaps therefore, when asked why Nitish has refused to become the convenor of the Opposition front, top JD(U) leaders question back: why should he? As a senior JD(U) leader in Patna said: ”The chief minister’s contribution in putting together the alliance is already bigger than any post.”

According to an avid political observer, who has been a non-political member of a Bihar government commission, “The chief minister does not want anything, neither projection as the prime ministerial candidate nor the job of a convenor. Nitish Kumar knows he can play changemaker without being prisoner to any designation.” She adds: “To understand the contribution of Nitish Kumar in the formation of the Opposition alliance, just compare the political scenarios of August 2022 and August 2023. In August 2022, when Nitish Kumar had walked out of the NDA to form an alternative government, there was no serious discussion in the country about a united Opposition. And look now.”

Indeed, that was the time when the Congress seemed to be heading on an ‘ekla chalo’ (go it alone) campaign whereas key Opposition leaders, such as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav, seemed to be harbouring the idea of a third front and were averse to the Congress being a part of it.

A year on, if as many as 28 political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party sat together with the Congress for the third time in three months for INDIA meetings, the credit rests with Nitish. His focus on stitching an Opposition alliance was clear the day he took oath for the eighth time as Bihar chief minister on August 10 last year. Shortly after the swearing-in, he told the media that “those who won in 2014 should be concerned if they will be able to continue after 2024”. The loaded remark was read as nothing less than a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Political observers believe that even though Nitish has refused to become convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), that’s exactly the role he has played very effectively. He twice visited Delhi in September 2022 to hold separate meetings with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, besides interacting with Kejriwal.

A total turnaround has happened in just a year’s time, with 28 parties participating in the front’s meeting in Mumbai last week to work out a strategy against the BJP for the Lok Sabha election. But it was easier said than done. On the one hand, Nitish spoke about pragmatic politics to persuade Mamata, Kejriwal and Akhilesh to realise the importance of the Congress in the alliance, and on the other, he played hardball with the Congress, such as postponing the June 12 Opposition meeting in Patna when the Congress had offered to send second-rung leaders by citing the unavailability of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul. The Congress fell in line and both Kharge and Rahul attended the rescheduled meeting on June 23, which was also the first of the INDIA bloc.

Incidentally, while the Congress took months to decide and party president Kharge telephoned Nitish only in April 2023, the Bihar CM acted swiftly, travelling to Kolkata and Lucknow in April to meet Mamata and Akhilesh, respectively, and to Mumbai and Ranchi the next month to interact with Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren. Nitish’s initiative bore fruit when, on June 23, 17 parties declared being in agreement for a national-level front against the BJP. Two months on, the grouping has 28 parties.

What next? Sources close to Nitish say he has already urged the INDIA constituents to fix all the alliance-related details, including the number of seats each party would contest, by September-end. The real action will begin next month. On October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, INDIA leaders are scheduled to hold programmes across the country. Nitish, in his discussions with the Opposition parties, has also spoken about consolidating the anti-BJP vote as much as possible. While the political turf between the Congress and other Opposition parties overlaps in many states, leading to a conflict of interest, Nitish wants the distribution of seats to be done to ensure minimum possible division of the anti-BJP vote.

But what about refusing the convenor’s post? ”It is no surprise for Nitish Kumar. He had refused to be chief Minister after the 2020 assembly polls and took the post only after then ally BJP insisted,” said a JD(U) leader.

Nitish has also refused to be the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc despite having the credentials, or even contesting the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh, which would have been perceived as entering into a direct contest with PM Modi. “Having spent nearly five decades in active politics, Nitish ji does not want to have a designation for himself. Instead, he is trying to be the changemaker for the greater good,” said the former member of the Bihar government-run commission and political observer, seeking anonymity.

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