The man who broke Nitish Kumar-Lalu Yadav grand alliance in Bihar
Before taking over as Bihar chief minister and deputy chief minister on July 27 at Bihar Raj Bhawan, Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi had met at the same venue on June 22. They were there for the swearing in of Keshri Nath Tripathi, who took over the additional charge of Bihar governor then.
Then, just before Tripathi’s oath, Modi had congratulated Nitish for his decision to back NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind, by saying, “bahut, bahut badhai”. Nitish returned Modi’s compliment with, “Bhai, aap kab kab aur kis-kis kaam ki badhayi de dete hain, pata hi nahi chalata.”
On July 27, it was Nitish who quickly congratulated Modi, now his deputy, for the new government. The compliment coming Modi’s way may not have been elaborately expressed, but the new deputy chief minister of Bihar has emerged as the man who single-handedly deflated the not-so-grand "mahagathbandhan" or "grand alliance", by relentlessly targeting Lalu Prasad and his family members for their unaccounted wealth.
Ever since April 4, when Modi blamed Lalu and his family for benami properties, the senior BJP leader has held more than 30 press conferences in Patna and Delhi to bring the ill-gotten properties of Lalu and his family to the fore. Modi researched the details before launching his tirade against Lalu and the documents he provided not only spurred the CBI and ED to take note, but it suddenly exposed the sharp difference that exists between Nitish and Lalu as politicians.
Modi’s allegations listed Lalu and his family, including his sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, as beneficiaries of the “benami properties” and irregular transactions, mostly as quid pro quo deals stitched during the tenure of Lalu as railway minister (2004-2009) and during the RJD regime in Bihar (1991-2005). Though the allegations were serious, the RJD apparently couldn’t muster enough courage to file defamation cases against Modi, though they had said they would.
Lalu, despite his excellent credential as a man of the masses, has been unable to think beyond his family. On the other hand, Nitish, a man of clean credentials, has always been someone against dynastic politics and corrupt politicians. It required a Modi, who knew Nitish will keep his image above political alliances, to make Nitish take a decision.
When Modi started his campaign against Lalu, Nitish initially refused to comment on the allegations. But results of Modi’s relentless tirade against Lalu were soon visible when the JD(U) — on record — refused to defend the RJD boss. Ultimately, when Nitish termed corruption charges on Lalu’s family as the underlying factor behind his resignation, it was clear that Modi’s campaign against Lalu’s family prompted Nitish to switch back to the BJP.
“If the BJP has been selected to run another state, sharing power with Nitish in Bihar and extending its role in governance in 17 of the 29 states in the country, the credit goes to Modi,” said a senior JD(U) leader in Bihar.
The mahagathbandhan had brought together arch-rivals JD(U) and RJD, with Congress the as a junior partner. Its remarkable victory over the BJP in 2015 and the successful government it ran under Nitish even rekindled hopes of everyone willing to take on the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combination.
If all this has come to a naught, a major chunk of the credit rests with Sushil Modi alone.
(Courtesy: Mail Today.)