Patna, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, one of the BJP's oldest allies and who heads the JD(U), finds himself in the kingmaker position as the saffron camp falls short of majority in the Lok Sabha.
The septuagenarian had also played a key role in the formation of the India Bloc and hosted the first meeting of opposition leaders from across the country. No wonder, he is said to be getting sentiments from the opposition alliance.
His relationship with the BJP dates back to the mid-1990s, when Kumar formed the Samata Party with veteran socialist leader the late George Fernandes as a rebellion against then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, who commanded a formidable presence in the party. Had achieved. Janata Dal was founded by former Prime Minister VP Singh.The Socialists' previous association with the BJP's previous incarnation, the Jan Sangh, whose members had steadfastly refused to give up their association with the RSS, had made the former suspicious of the Hindutva clan.
Perhaps this was the reason why the Samata Party initially aligned itself with the CPI(ML) Liberation, while the Socialists had less in common with the Left.
The alliance failed in the 1995 assembly elections and the Samata Party found itself hostile to Lalu Prasad and formed an alliance which was moderately successful in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.
The alliance with the BJP, which ruled the country from 1998 to 2004, provided much-needed experience to Kumar, who held key portfolios like agriculture, railways and surface transport in the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet.
However, it was not until 2005 that the moment of glory came for Kumar, whose party was now known as JD(U) after the Samata Party merged with another rebel Janata faction led by the late Sharad Yadav. Was made.The JD(U)-BJP alliance won the assembly elections and Kumar became the Chief Minister, a post that Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi held for 15 years.
The stain of the 2002 Gujarat riots had made Kumar apprehensive of Narendra Modi's growing influence within the BJP and he severed ties in 2013, ending the 17-year-old partnership.
Since then, political opportunism led the JD(U) supremo to form a short-lived alliance with Prasad's RJD on two occasions, but both times led to a sudden return to the NDA.
According to political analysts across the spectrum, the flip-flop has enabled Kumar to remain in power, although it has led to a decline in the popularity of Bihar's longest-serving chief minister.
The BJP, now a major force in Bihar, has always been happy to welcome Kumar as an ally, perhaps wary of OBC integration if it has to take on the JD(U)-RJD alliance.
With JD(U)'s performance in Bihar matching that of BJP, people in the saffron party feel that they have been won back in good times, even though the proposals from the opposition camp may remain a cause for nervousness.The BJP-led NDA looks set to retain its lead in Bihar on Tuesday, where the saffron party appears to have performed below expectations but allies have performed better than expected.
Kumar-led JD(U) was leading on 12 seats, the same as the BJP, while the latter party had fielded candidates in 17 constituencies, while it contested one seat less.
The septuagenarian had also played a key role in the formation of the India Bloc and hosted the first meeting of opposition leaders from across the country. No wonder, he is said to be getting sentiments from the opposition alliance.
His relationship with the BJP dates back to the mid-1990s, when Kumar formed the Samata Party with veteran socialist leader the late George Fernandes as a rebellion against then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, who commanded a formidable presence in the party. Had achieved. Janata Dal was founded by former Prime Minister VP Singh.The Socialists' previous association with the BJP's previous incarnation, the Jan Sangh, whose members had steadfastly refused to give up their association with the RSS, had made the former suspicious of the Hindutva clan.
Perhaps this was the reason why the Samata Party initially aligned itself with the CPI(ML) Liberation, while the Socialists had less in common with the Left.
The alliance failed in the 1995 assembly elections and the Samata Party found itself hostile to Lalu Prasad and formed an alliance which was moderately successful in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.
The alliance with the BJP, which ruled the country from 1998 to 2004, provided much-needed experience to Kumar, who held key portfolios like agriculture, railways and surface transport in the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet.
However, it was not until 2005 that the moment of glory came for Kumar, whose party was now known as JD(U) after the Samata Party merged with another rebel Janata faction led by the late Sharad Yadav. Was made.The JD(U)-BJP alliance won the assembly elections and Kumar became the Chief Minister, a post that Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi held for 15 years.
The stain of the 2002 Gujarat riots had made Kumar apprehensive of Narendra Modi's growing influence within the BJP and he severed ties in 2013, ending the 17-year-old partnership.
Since then, political opportunism led the JD(U) supremo to form a short-lived alliance with Prasad's RJD on two occasions, but both times led to a sudden return to the NDA.
According to political analysts across the spectrum, the flip-flop has enabled Kumar to remain in power, although it has led to a decline in the popularity of Bihar's longest-serving chief minister.
The BJP, now a major force in Bihar, has always been happy to welcome Kumar as an ally, perhaps wary of OBC integration if it has to take on the JD(U)-RJD alliance.
With JD(U)'s performance in Bihar matching that of BJP, people in the saffron party feel that they have been won back in good times, even though the proposals from the opposition camp may remain a cause for nervousness.The BJP-led NDA looks set to retain its lead in Bihar on Tuesday, where the saffron party appears to have performed below expectations but allies have performed better than expected.
Kumar-led JD(U) was leading on 12 seats, the same as the BJP, while the latter party had fielded candidates in 17 constituencies, while it contested one seat less.
