Why Nitish Kumar is Arvind Kejriwal's biggest fan
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is clearly quite impressed with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, though one does not know whether it is also true the other way around. Compared with Kumar, Kejriwal is a greenhorn in politics. Kejriwal was just seven years old when Kumar had taken part in the JP movement during Emergency. But it is the Bihar CM who is emulating Kejriwal and taking lessons from him in political strategy as the eastern state goes to polls later this year.
The JD(U) has assured support to Kejriwal who is all set to confront the BJP-led NDA government at the centre over the issue of statehood to Delhi. The Delhi CM is planning to hold a referendum on the issue. What better support he can get than an assurance from the JD(U) that it will raise the issue in the Parliament during the upcoming monsoon session and even outside it.
After the centre refused to post officials to Delhi's anti-corruption bureau (ACB), it was only Bihar which chipped in by sending five of its police officials to the capital. And Kejriwal feels grateful to Kumar for this gesture.
Kejriwal's victory in the February Delhi elections has impressed Kumar to a great extent. Kejriwal took oath as Delhi CM for the second time on February 14 after a historic victory over the BJP by winning 67 of the 70 assembly seats. It was around the same time that Kumar was struggling to replace his loyalist-turned-rebel Jitan Ram Manjhi as the Bihar CM.
Two days before he was sworn in as Bihar CM one more time on February 22, Kumar did a Kejriwal for the first time by apologising to the people of Bihar for having quit the CM's chair, owning moral responsibility for JD(U)'s poor show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He took a cue from Kejriwal who repeatedly and profusely apologised to the Delhi voters for having quit power in February 2014 in a huff. Kumar hopes that the voters of Bihar, much like their Delhi counterparts, will forgive him and return him to power. It is another matter that the political conditions in the two states are vastly different.
Kumar, much like Kejriwal, has launched a door-to-door campaign in Bihar much ahead of the assembly elections. In Delhi, while the BJP's emphasis was on public rallies and road shows of its star campaigners, Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and workers relied on door-to-door campaign.
After taking over the reins of Bihar, Kumar does not forget to call on the Delhi CM whenever he visits the national capital. It was their fourth meeting on July 14 in the last as many months. Friends in both AAP and JD(U) told this writer that Kumar is taking tips from the Delhi CM and is seeking his favours for the Bihar elections.
The Bihar CM has also requested Kejriwal to campaign in Bihar. Though AAP has refused to openly support the JD(U) - because the latter is contesting the polls in alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD, Congress and NCP, all of them labeled corrupt by Kejriwal - it may provide tactical support by not fielding candidates in the state and by issuing a statement in its favour.
These are the five reasons why Kumar is wooing Kejriwal:
1. Youth: The 46-year-old Delhi CM is popular among the youth. A large number of those who voted for him belonged to this section of the society. Kumar wants to use his appeal among the youth of Bihar.
2. Muslims: The votes of the biggest minority community went to AAP in the February elections. Between Congress and AAP, they chose the latter. The JD(U), RJD, Congress and NCP combine is getting a tough fight from Union consumer affairs minister Ramvilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which is also an ally of the BJP at the centre as well as in the state.
3. Modi-vanquisher: Kejriwal is considered the only leader in the country who has defeated Modi. They may not share friends, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the common rival whom both Nitish and Kejriwal take very seriously. After the 2014 Lok Sabha victory, the BJP performed remarkably well in all the states which went for elections - Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. It did not name any chief ministerial candidate in any state and fought on Modi's face. While it came to power in Haryana on its own, it is sharing power in the remaining three states with its allies. But it was only Kejriwal who stopped the Modi juggernaut in Delhi.
4. Lalu factor: Kumar may get help by aligning with Lalu Prasad, a convict in the fodder scam and barred from contesting elections, in the hope of garnering some Muslim and Yadav votes but it also comes at the risk of denting his image as an honest leader. Congress, too, lost power at the centre and in states like Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, where it was in power, as corruption charge stuck to it. On the other hand, Kejriwal is known as an anti-corruption crusader. By being seen standing shoulder to shoulder with Kejriwal, Kumar hopes to brush off some of the corruption dirt which may have settled on him.
5. Social media: AAP exhaustively used the social media to campaign in the Delhi elections. It became a trail blazer in this respect leaving even the BJP behind. The social media helped it win the youth vote. Kumar, too, wishes to use the new media to his advantage.