BJP remains upbeat on its prospects in Bihar despite odds

The BJP believes it will emerge as the singular opposition pole with the regrouping of the former Janata Dal in Bihar.

The realignment of political forces was visible on the floor of the State Assembly on Friday with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supporting a Janata Dal (United) government during the trust vote.

The three-day-old government led by a new Chief Minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi, won the trust vote in the Assembly with support from its erstwhile arch enemy, the RJD, Congress and others.

The BJP’s central leadership seems unperturbed by this political response from JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, who had resigned as Chief Minister following the ruling party’s near rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

Claiming moral responsibility, Nitish seemed to have pre-empted moves by his erstwhile ally, the BJP, to destabilise his government.

BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi had, even before the Lok Sabha polls, been claiming the support of a large chunk of the JD(U)’s legislators.

By resigning and installing a member of the Mahadalit community as Chief Minister, Nitish is perceived to have achieved the twin objectives of preventing a split in his party as well as showcasing his social engineering by projecting a member of an oppressed caste as CM.

The support of the RJD complements this process by mobilising Lalu Prasad Yadav’s base vote in favour of the new alignment.

However, the BJP believes this is a sign of “desperation” which will only enhance its own stature as the principal and lone opposition party.

“Lalu and Nitish are desperate. The voters have demolished caste barriers and we now have a leader with a proven track record in governance who himself belongs to an oppressed caste. We will only grow at their expense in Bihar,” said a senior BJP leader. “Narendra Modi only has to hold a couple of rallies in Bihar and attack the ‘Nitish-Lalu sarkar’ and the BJP’s lot will increase exponentially.”

The BJP’s 88 MLAs staged a walkout from the House to protest against what they said was an “unholy alliance” between the JD(U) and the RJD even as the Chief Minister was in the middle of his maiden speech while replying to the debate on the trust motion.

Earlier, participating in the three-hour debate on the motion, RJD legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddique extended unconditional support to the Manjhi Government and said the BJP should not have any doubt about the majority of the incumbent government.

Extending his party’s backing to the government, he said that the RJD would monitor the State’s performance and may reconsider its support if the government failed to perform in any manner.

Amid reports that the RJD’s unconditional support to the Manjhi Government may be a precursor to a formal alliance with the JD(U) in future, Siddique ruled out such a prospect, saying it constituted only outside support to the JD(U) government merely to ensure its survival in power .

Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh hailed former Nitish for resigning in keeping with his high moral standards after his party was snubbed in the Lok Sabha election. Singh said his party would stand by its support to the JD(U) government as was communicated to the Governor in a letter recently.