In the last few months, Nitish Kumar has been politically active and was expected to be a big gainer in the recent cabinet expansion by the Modi government. But, his party JD(U) was given only one cabinet berth despite being the second-largest party in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
A day before the expansion, when asked about what he is expecting from the cabinet expansion, Nitish Kumar said, “I’m not aware of any formula… Whatever the respected Prime Minister decides we will accept,” adding that RCP Singh — the National President of his Janata Dal-United who is currently in Delhi — has been authorised to finalise everything with BJP.
However, now JD(U) is not happy with the fact that it got only one seat out of 78 positions despite being the second-largest party in the alliance. Its status has been reduced to that of other smaller parties like LJP and RPI(A).
RCP Singh, the confidante of Nitish Kumar, is the only one who got a cabinet berth as the Minister of Steel. As per a report by Hindustan Times, a senior JD(U) leader said, “It is embarrassing, disheartening… what is this? Everybody was talking of four berths and now you have to be content with just one. Then why this fuss was made in 2019 when one cabinet post was offered.”
“The BJP has 17 MPs in Bihar and five ministers at the centre. But JD(U) has 16 MPs and not a single minister. In such a situation, JD (U) has asked for four ministerial posts, two cabinet and two state ministers,” said another JD (U) leader, wishing not to be named. “Now we have been put at par with the LJP, which has six MPs only,” he added.
JD(U) was expecting a better deal from BJP just like in the Bihar assembly where it has been given an equal number of ministerial positions and the post of Chief Minister despite being a distant third. In the Bihar legislative assembly election 2020, RJD won 75 seats and BJP won 74 while JD(U) was a distant third with only 43 seats but it got more than fair treatment in the state.
Now with the Union cabinet expansion, JD(U) has been shown its place with just one seat. Nitish Kumar’s party was not even given a supporting act or a proportional representation that his party is asking for since 2019.
“JD(U) has been reduced to the number three party (in terms of seats) after the 2020 assembly polls, yet BJP kept its word by giving Kumar the CM’s post. How long will BJP compromise after getting 74 seats in the assembly? It agreed to contest on equal number of seats (17 each) during Lok Sabha elections. It gave more seats to JD(U) to contest in assembly polls. After the poor performance of JD(U) in assembly polls, BJP has realized that the ally has been given more than it deserves. But just to keep intact social equations, the party honoured his demands,” said Gyanendra Yadav, a political observer and associate professor (sociology) at Patna Commerce College.
In the last few months, Nitish Kumar has been trying hard to consolidate power by bringing people like Upendra Kushwaha and managing to create a feud in LJP with help of Pushpati Paras, uncle of Chirag Paswan. But the Modi-Shah duo is keeping a close eye on his activities and has already sent a message to him by keeping JD(U) limited to a single seat in the cabinet.