With Nitish Kumar’s growing influence in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), it was certain that factionalism within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would surface. However, it emerged sooner than expected. On June 26, 2024, senior BJP leader and former Legislative Council member Sanjay Paswan stated that the BJP in Bihar is still dependent on Nitish Kumar. He even claimed that if there were no alliance with Nitish Kumar, the BJP wouldn’t have won a single seat in Bihar in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Influence of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav
Paswan believes that currently, there are only two mass leaders in Bihar politics – Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav. He explains that various voting blocs (castes) support one of these two leaders, and therefore, national-level parties benefit from them, not the other way around.
Paswan also mentioned that Prashant Kishor has launched a third front, which is quietly spreading its wings in the state. Citing feedback from workers, he said that those who previously campaigned for the BJP or Janata Dal United (JDU) are now shifting towards Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party.
Criticism of BJP’s State Leadership
Regarding his party’s state leadership, Paswan said it operates in a childish and sluggish manner. He described the leadership as ignorant and ineffective communicators and mentioned that Samrat Choudhary is not accessible to the party’s cadres and the public. According to Paswan, BJP’s existence in Bihar is thanks to Nitish Kumar, but it is now time to look beyond him. He believes that if Samrat Choudhary is replaced with former Buxar MP Ashwini Choubey as the state president, the BJP could stand on its own.
Statements by Ashwini Choubey
On the other hand, Choubey has made some statements that might not be entirely acceptable to the BJP. While speaking to BJP workers in Bhagalpur, Choubey said that the BJP should lead the NDA in the 2025 assembly elections. He wants the BJP to achieve a majority on its own in the elections. Choubey stated that achieving a majority on its own does not mean abandoning Nitish Kumar. However, he does not seem to support endorsing Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate for the assembly elections in Bihar.
Potential Faces and Organizational Structure
Regarding potential faces, Choubey said that it will be decided only after the elections. He proposed that someone who has gained prominence within the organization should be chosen as a symbolic figure in both the government and the party. Citing senior leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deendayal Upadhyay, Choubey said that such leaders built the party’s structure and it should not compromise by choosing those who have not worked in the organization, such as district or state presidents. Choubey’s preference is seen as an indirect reference to the current state BJP president and deputy chief minister, Samrat Choudhary.
Role of Samrat Choudhary
Despite the expected poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Choudhary remains one of the top contenders for the BJP’s CM face. Samrat Choudhary joined the BJP in 2017 after leaving the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Due to Nitish Kumar’s tumultuous decisions, the party was seeking a credible Other Backward Classes (OBC) face who could stabilize the party’s image if Kumar changed sides. This was the main reason he was given the deputy chief minister position in the latest NDA cabinet in Bihar.
Leadership Dispute and Upcoming Elections
Choudhary’s promotion was not well-received by established party leaders who had risen through the ranks as cadres. However, the Nitish-Samrat duo at the top was necessary to strengthen the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) and OBC votes in Bihar. Kumar has a hold over both EBC and OBC, while Choudhary is primarily an OBC face.
For Scheduled Caste (SC) votes, the party relied on its alliance with Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP(RV)). This strategy helped the BJP avoid the disaster seen in Uttar Pradesh, where analysts say it failed to consolidate EBC and SC vote banks.
However, the election results were unsatisfactory, and the party lost major seats like Ara, Buxar, Aurangabad, and Patna. Additionally, the Koeri-Kurmi vote bank, which was the basis of the Nitish-Samrat duo, largely shifted towards the RJD.
This gave leaders like Choubey an opportunity to express their criticism. It is reported that when Choubey voiced his opinion, Choudhary was in a meeting with another deputy chief minister, Vijay Sinha, Health Minister Mangal Pandey, and BJP’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde.
Conclusion
After Choubey’s statements gained traction, Nitish Kumar called Choudhary for an emergency meeting, forcing him to leave the meeting with Tawde midway to head to the chief minister’s residence. Kumar is said to be upset with Choubey’s statement and called Choudhary to give an explanation. Later, JDU spokesperson Abhishek Jha dismissed Choubey’s statement and said that Choudhary is the BJP state president and has already declared Nitish Kumar as the face for the 2025 assembly elections.
Despite the temporary agreement, the issue doesn’t seem resolved. These provocative statements surfaced just before the JDU’s national executive meeting, which might prompt Nitish Kumar to make an unexpected decision, known for safeguarding his existence.
This drama confirms that the BJP’s Bihar unit is not in a good state. Many leaders are vying for leadership positions, leading to increased factionalism. This was seen in the controversial ticket distribution in the state, which heightened the frustrations of the cadres already aggravated by the alliance with the JDU.
Both Choubey and Paswan did not hold MP and MLC seats and therefore could be dismissed as disgruntled members. However, it could be dangerous for the party to ignore the flaws they are highlighting.
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