Lalu proposes, Nitish disposes: Amid a well-recognized dance of friends-turned-rivals, a have a look at their decades-long relationship | Political Pulse Information

The Bihar CM’s feedback clearing the air on his political stance got here days after RJD chief Lalu Prasad tried to heat as much as him by saying, “If Nitish Kumar decides to affix us, he’s all the time welcome. We are going to work collectively.”

In a 2015 interview to this correspondent, Nitish Kumar recounted how he supported Prasad’s declare to the Chief of the Opposition submit in 1989, selecting him as a substitute of the extra well-known and seasoned Yadav troika of Anoop Prasad Yadav, Vinayak Prasad Yadav, and Gajendra Himanshu as a result of he “wished to take energy to a pacesetter of his technology”.

Nitish, a studious chief with a aptitude for writing well-crafted Hindi, usually wrote press notes for Prasad who had grow to be the LoP. A yr later, when Lalu Prasad turned the CM, Nitish turned his principal advisor although he was elected MP in 1989 after defeating Congress heavyweight Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav. It was fairly ironic that Nitish’s success got here at the price of somebody who was as soon as Lalu’s idol.

The following chapter of their relationship got here quickly afterwards. With the Janata Dal having received 48 of 54 seats in undivided Bihar within the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, senior celebration leaders corresponding to George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav, and Ram Vilas Paswan began feeling cornered. But it surely was Nitish who first raised the banner of revolt by the tip of 1993 and finally shaped the Samata Celebration beneath George Fernandes’s management in 1994.

Nitish Kumar charted his personal course by contesting the 1995 Meeting elections alone and received solely seven seats. Lalu Prasad once more returned to energy. When some journalists went to fulfill him on the day of the outcomes, a shocked Nitish requested why journalists ought to come to him when Lalu was the king of state politics.

BJP enters the image

Since then, Nitish has traversed one lengthy course. He joined the NDA in 1995, successful the boldness of prime BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L Okay Advani, who selected to make him the Bihar CM in 2000 as a substitute of their celebration colleague Sushil Kumar Modi. Although he remained the CM for every week, Nitish managed to make his political stature greater than any BJP Bihar chief, together with attainable challenger Modi.

All by way of his political heyday, Lalu Prasad remained Nitish’s chief political rival. It was the late BJP chief Arun Jaitley who pushed for Nitish because the NDA’s CM face within the October 2005 polls. It labored and Nitish returned to the helm of the state. In 2010, he overran the Opposition because the RJD was lowered to only 23 MLAs in a Home of 243. This was the second massive blow for the RJD inside months. Within the Lok Sabha polls the yr earlier than, the RJD had fallen from 22 seats to 4, whereas the NDA received 32 of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.

A twist within the story

Simply when everybody thought it was the tip of the Lalu-Nitish story, in 2013, the Janata Dal (United) chief parted methods with the NDA due to his nationwide ambitions. The JD(U) contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls alone and it backfired because the celebration was lowered from 20 to 2 seats.

Nitish hit a brand new political low and have become determined to reboot his politics. Typically known as the “greatest political calculator of Bihar”, he labored out that becoming a member of palms along with his as soon as principal rival would as soon as once more put him on the trail of ascendancy in Bihar politics. Within the 2015 interview, Nitish mentioned he “determined to affix Lalu Prasad due to his mass base and lack of selection earlier than him”.

The 2 socialist leaders — known as “Bada Bhai” and “Chhota Bhai”, massive brother and youthful brother — got here collectively earlier than the 2015 Meeting polls. After they had been to share the dais after 21 years at a perform in Vaishali, there was an excellent buzz within the media. As they embraced one another with smiles taking part in on their faces, one other part started in state politics: the revival of Lalu however with Nitish holding his primacy. The RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance received 178 seats. Regardless that the RJD emerged because the single-largest celebration with 81 seats, 10 greater than the JD(U), Lalu conceded the CM submit to Nitish.

That’s when the flip-flop story started. By the tip of 2016, Nitish began feeling uncomfortable within the firm of Lalu, who was mentioned to be taking main coverage choices from behind the scenes, and his sons Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the Deputy CM, and Tej Pratap Yadav, the well being minister.

Nitish had been in search of an alibi to give up the Mahagathbandhan. The CBI’s raids at Lalu’s dwelling and the next IRCTC case filed towards him and his household, together with Tejashwi, in mid-2017 supplied him simply that. Nitish went to Rajgir and remained incommunicado for a number of days. On the time, Lalu advised the media: “Simply when Nitish retains quiet, it means he’s as much as one thing massive.” The JD(U) chief returned to Patna a number of days later and dialled Lalu to tell him that he was quitting the alliance. On the time, Lalu is realized to have replied: “Thik hai, toh aap ja rahe hain? (Okay, so are you leaving?)”

With Nitish gone, Tejashwi wished to forge his personal path and rise in stature. Within the 2020 Meeting polls, his “10 lakh jobs” pitch virtually introduced him to energy because the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan received 110 seats, solely 12 in need of a majority. The JD(U) was relegated to 3rd place (43 seats) behind the RJD (75 seats) and the BJP (74 seats). However Nitish once more turned the CM, along with his numbers guaranteeing him the essential position of deciding who would come to energy.

Although Tejashwi was averse to Nitish’s return in 2022, it was Lalu who once more had his approach and welcomed again Nitish. In non-public, the RJD chief reasoned that the 2 of them collectively could possibly be on the helm of Bihar for a number of years. Nevertheless, Nitish not being made the convenor of the INDIA bloc and the dearth of assist from Lalu once more led to the Bihar CM switching sides in January 2024.

How Nitish swings could resolve the course of Bihar politics in an important election yr and Lalu is aware of this nicely. And this political calculation is probably going behind his overture to his friend-turned-rival.

By way of all of the ups and downs over the a long time, an endearing function of the Lalu-Nitish story has been that neither has personally attacked the opposite. Lalu Prasad, in truth, as soon as stopped senior chief Prabhunath Singh from utilizing foul language towards the Bihar CM. In non-public conversations, the RJD chief has usually been heard saying that “Nitish was like a member of the family”.