What is Nitish Kumar’s biggest strength?
Is it his mesmerizing oratory?
No. Certainly not. His metaphors are generally not well framed, he doesn’t quote any anecdotes, and His voice is barely audible. He is anything but a good orator.
Is it his unwavering voter base?
What, no. Big no. , He does not enjoy the support of any numerically and socially strong community in Bihar. The Yadavas have sworn their allegiance to Lalu Prasad Yadav and so have the Muslims. Upper caste Hindus form BJP’s support base, Although he does have some appeal amongst the Dalits and other backward classes but then Lalu, Paswan and Kushwaha all contest for the same vote chunk. With leaders like Chhedi Paswan joining BJP, even BJP becomes a strong contender for the Dalit vote base. Nitish Kumar doesn’t even command a hundred percent faith and loyalty of his own Kurmi community which, anyway, is just a little over three percent of the population of Bihar.
Do his social engineering skills make him a great politician of modern-day India?
No He is a failure on that front too. He carved out a distinct category of castes known as ‘Mahadalit’. His social engineering formula can be represented as < 19 Dalit castes > minus <Paswans> equals <Mahadalits>. He deliberately left out Paswans to send a message across that he hates Ram Vilas Paswan and hence all the Paswans.
Oh well, is it his image of a progressive man then, that works in his favor?
A no again. Had it been the case, he wouldn’t have been decimated in the last Loksabha Elections. He scored a meagre 2. It was the lack of political acumen, hunger and motive in the Bihar BJP leaders that made Nitish Kumar symbolic to progress in his first term. A lot of work done during his first term as CM of Bihar can be accredited to the BJP ministers and policymakers. They didn’t and Nitish did. Also, Bihar was the breeding ground of serfdom, casteism, criminality, rampant corruption, political decadence when Nitish assumed power. It was tantamount to misgovernment, institutional breakdown, and general lack of hope. Any small step was bound to look like a giant leap. That’s what Nitish Kumar capitalized upon.
Okay? So a strict disciplinarian? That’s what makes him great? Right?
Calling him a despot wouldn’t be unfair. He is somebody who would go to any extent to soothe his ego or settle his scores. He doesn’t lead people by example, he makes them fall in line. Anyone who grows a tongue of his own is silently shown the exit doors. Some retire without a sound while others make noise, Jitan Ram Manjhi would be one of the latter kinds.
This is strange? In spite of having no leader like qualities why is he one of the most followed politicians of this time and probably the strongest contender for the post of Bihar CM?
The answer lies in his opportunism. Nitish Kumar can give all political freebooters a run for their money. When Nitish Kumar was shown the doors by Lalu in early Nineties and when his own political party Samata Party couldn’t achieve much, he quietly joined the NDA. When the Godhra Train Massacre and the Gujarat riots took place, the oh-so-moral Nitish Kumar didn’t take a stand. He didn’t join any of the BJP inner circles and tried striking a chord with all of them. After the Gujarat riots, Mr. Nitish Kumar the custodian of all minority rights in India, went ahead with his exaltation of Narendra Modi. When Bihar started appearing on positive news feeds, he hogged all the credits and limelight. When Narendra Modi was projected by the Modi faction as the prospective PM candidate, Nitish Kumar changed his colors all of a sudden. He discarded Modi as a spring fruit and he was convinced that it was Advani who was ultimately going to be the PM candidate. He was also sure, that the electorates will give a fractured mandate in the 2014 General elections which will make allies more crucial than ever. A clean man, a man of few words and a leader who scrubbed the filthiest state of India clean, could have been the binding force for all NDA allies. But alas, things didn’t go as expected. Modi came, Modi saw and Modi conquered.
The Janata Parivaar is not Mulayam’s brainchild. He is happily in power in his state and has the undying support of Muslims and Yadavs there. Lalu enjoys the support of the same voter base in Bihar and in a three corner fight, it is he who can challenge BJP while Nitish Kumar will be a very distant third. Om Prakash Chautala is just there for the numbers and Devegowda is a political nobody now. It is Nitish and Nitish alone who is all set to benefit for this alliance. Since Lalu can’t be the CM because of legal obligations, barely literate Rabri Devi as CM candidate will invite the wrath of the voters, Misa Bharti is new and Lalu’s sons are nonentities so that leaves the alliance with just one CM candidate, great Mr. Sushashan Babu. And that’s why it is Nitish Kumar who is most desperate for this alliance. The great opportunist of Indian polity is desperate to seize the moment again. But looks like his partners-to-be have sniffed the evil cooking inside his head.
Image Sources: Deccan Chronicle
Well, I don’t have such an in depth knowledge of Bihar politics. What i know for sure is that it is almost entirely dependent on a deeply ingrained caste system. In the years after Laloo and Rabri, Nitish did emerge as the best CM candidate. Unfortunately, whatever little good that he had done during his rule, came to a naught when he became over ambitious and greedy. People with high hopes from him became disillusioned when he broke off his alliance with NDA. Appointing Jitan Ram Manjhi as the proxy CM was another big mistake and this, coupled with the convoluted political equations, may pave the way for a novice to be anointed the new CM. That is, if BJP fails to capitalize on the precarious balance of powers in the state.
One little correction in the second last para: please replace CM in the line ‘by the Modi faction as the prospective CM candidate’ with PM.
A good read and analysis. (Y)
Thank you Seema ji :)
I must confess that all your points are true but miles away from the fact, first I would say that you dont know the ground reality just because someone is praising BJP does not make them the best government.
All the points written in the post seems that he does not have the vision and he is a loser, well it has to be based on facts.
The fact is he has done a lot for Bihar and that can be denied, may be author choose to overlook that, the law and order situation has improved drastically, well if you are going to compare it with Delhi Mumbai or Pune then I do not have an answer for that .
Ohh yeah did kiss his a** when they wanted to return to power, so stop living in a Cynical world get the facts and then make a person a hero or a loser.
//you dont know the ground reality// How did you deduce that?
The fact is he has done a lot for Bihar and that can be denied, may be
author choose to overlook that, the law and order situation has improved
drastically – Refer to “It was tantamount to misgovernment, institutional breakdown, and general
lack of hope. Any small step was bound to look like a giant leap.
That’s what Nitish Kumar capitalized upon.”
And sorry you disappointed me, I was looking for strong factual counters
Well dont get me wrong , I guess even you did the same. Change the Mentality bro. Rome was not built in a day. So get a life and stop cursing someone.
Hope you will get some sense just becuase you have a medium to voice out an opinion use it for something better
I am from Bihar too, have been observing the political upheavals for quite some time. improved law and order situation: Yes it was true till a few months ago before Lalu and Nitish shook hands.
What is Narendra Modi Strenght…?
1. Is it his mesmerizing oratory?
If You think Modi is a good orator…Good luck to u. Sometime Modi says… Takshshila University was situated in Bihar, Chandragupta Stopped Alexender.. Price of a cement sack is 150 Rs, Before Modi Govt we were ashamed of being Indian. IF these type of statement makes u good Orator then Modi is a good orator.
2.Is it his unwavering voter base?
Modi belongs to Teli Community and its population is not even 0.25% of total population of india and if you think this community is socially strong community then good luck to ur thought.
3.Do his social engineering skills make him a great politician of modern-day India?
A big no… In last lok sabha election BJP got approx 30 % of total Votes dat means 70 % voter are against him…so he was unable to mobilize even 51% vote for BJP. His jumla like… 56 inch ka seena….is not healthy for civilised Society of any country.
4.Oh well, is it his image of a progressive man ?
Once upon a time Lalu was alos playing with deta and showing that railway is profit by Thousands of crore later we came to know it was only presentation of deta in other way… Nowadays Modi is playing same game…
Agriculture Down
Industries Down
Export down
Jobs down
Rupee Down
Mining down
Production Down
Then…GDP Increase… How?
In few months it will get clear.
Okay? So a strict disciplinarian? That’s what makes him great? Right?
Calling him a despot wouldn’t be unfair. He is somebody who would go to any extent to soothe his ego or settle his scores. He doesn’t lead people by example, he makes them fall in line. Anyone who grows a tongue of his own is silently shown the exit doors. Some retire without a sound while others make noise. Sanjay Joshi is good example for this. If somebody wishes someone(sanjay Joshi) on his B’day…it is not acceptable to him… WE can understand his Ego.
This is strange? In spite of having no leader like qualities why is he one of the most followed politicians of this time and prime minister of India ?
The answer lies in his opportunism.. Narenda Modi was just a pimp in Keshubhai Patel Government in Gujrat but when his ambition start flying on seventh sky, Patel kicked off and sent on tadipar(Delhi), where he starts licking Advani shoes and later he got a chance to become CM of Gujrat due to Unavoidable political circumstance in gujrat for BJP not for his talent. After that he starts licking shoes of RSS to promote him PM candidate to implemet his hardcore Agendas and he became PM of India.
SO Bro… Anything is possible in this country…its all about timimng…
PS1: There is no other choice for Bihar… Its Only Nitish…. Maano ya na Maano
PS2: why have you blocked me on TFI Facebook page. we can not agree with each other..but do u think Blocking someone is the Solution ?