The Chinese have a popular saying – ‘May you live in interesting times.’ Truth be told, the events that started unfolding post 6 p.m. On July 27th in Bihar was — by far! — the most interesting event in politics since ‘demonetisation’. Although, if we were being perfectly honest, demonetisation did not even come close to the drama that Bihar witnessed over the course of a single night.
Thus, in less than 24 hours, the 5th Chief Minister of Bihar resigned to subsequently become the 6th Chief Minister of Bihar. Now, that’s saying something! Of course, not that we had not anticipated the move. In fact, in a previous article, 5 Reasons Why Nitish Kumar Should Join NDA, I had enumerated the reasons why it made logical sense for Nitish Kumar to renew his partnership with NDA.
In fact, I myself revisited the article I had written almost a month ago to realise that the first point that I had made actually turned out to be the game-changer in the whole scheme of things. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav were never meant to be together. In fact, this “mahagathbandhan” had to break up…sooner rather than later. The question, in fact, was not “if” the alliance would break up, the question was “when” would the alliance break up.
The reason was simple: Lalu Yadav and his sons represent the same brand of ‘dynastic’ politics that Nitish Kumar has never propagated or stood for. Nitish Kumar is not one to promote his dynastic politics…in fact, he may be guilty of several things (including his over-the-top prohibition politics) but he has never been guilty of offering the political throne to his sons, daughters, nephews or in-laws.
If it had not been clear to Nitish Kumar earlier, I am sure it had become increasingly clear over the last couple of months that the Yadavs would not going to let him be the ‘king’ forever…after all, when it comes to Bihar…it is Lalu Yadav who has always enjoyed the tag of being the ‘king-maker’. And of course, who wouldn’t want to see his own son(s) being crowned as the king.
In fact, if we look at the grand scheme of things in this grand alliance between the RJD and the JDU, it was abundantly clear from the beginning that Lalu Prasad Yadav was simply going to play the proverbial cuckoo — the brood parasite! — who at the opportune time would surreptitiously push the egg out of its nest so it could secretly deposit one of its own.
In reality, Nitish Kumar’s job was simple: ‘Keep the throne warm till the Yadav scion came out of his egg shell and was ready to rule the roost’. Of course, what Lalu Yadav forgot in the process was that Nitish Kumar was not only the byproduct of the same JP Movement and the result of the same movement in Bihar, but that he was also a shrewd politician who would wake up before the parasite had time to finish him off! When it comes to Bihar, it is literally the game of thrones!!!
