'Nearly 80 of 85 JD-U MLAs are not in favour of a CM from the BJP. They are strongly rooting for Nishant to replace Nitish Kumar.'
Key Points
- Political uncertainty grows as Nitish Kumar prepares to step down, triggering intense speculation over Bihar's next chief minister.
- BJP leaders remain confident of securing the CM post, citing numerical strength.
- Nishant Kumar's rising role within the JD-U is seen as a strategy to retain party unity and prevent potential splits.
After Bihar's longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar resigned as a member of the legislative council and is likely to step down as CM by mid-April, the big question is, who will replace him as the next CM?
Amid political buzz that a Bharatiya Janata Party leader will replace Nitish as the next CM and even as the names of a few BJP leaders are being floated as frontrunners, all eyes are on Nitish Kumar's 85 MLAs -- only three less than the BJP's 88.
Upbeat BJP leaders have been claiming repeatedly in private that a deal has been done to replace Nitish with a BJP leader as the next CM.
However, according to sources in the Janata Dal-United, most party MLAs want Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar as the next CM.
80 out of 85 JD-MLAs favour Nishant Kumar
"Nearly 80 of 85 JD-U MLAs are not in favour of a CM from the BJP. They are strongly rooting for Nishant to replace Nitish Kumar. The dominant view is that the CM should be from the JD-U, and not from the BJP, as during the last 20 years," JD-U sources said.
This clamour from within the JD-U indicates that a transfer of power to the BJP won't be an easy task.
Nishant Kumar, who officially joined the JD-U last month, has been active in the party since then.
"Going by Nishant's growing clout in the JD-U, he will be the power centre in the party and Nitish's political heir to take his legacy forward," a JD-U leader said.
"It will help the party minimise the threat of a split after Nitish's exit from the CM's post and will ensure its social support base is intact. Nishant will be given a powerful position in the party in April itself," the JD-U leader added.
Bihar CM Race Intensifies
BJP leaders believe the party is close to fulfilling its decades-old dream to have its own chief minister in Bihar for the first time.
Bihar is the only state in the Hindi heartland where the BJP does not have its own chief minister.
Prominent among the BJP frontrunners for the chief ministership are the two deputy chief ministers, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Bihar assembly Speaker Prem Kumar, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and a few low-profile party MLAs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will finally decide the CM's name, as has been the norm in other BJP-ruled states.
Why Samrat Choudhary is important for BJP
A former state BJP president considered a favourite of Amit Shah, Samrat Choudhary is a Kushwaha or Koeri, an agrarian OBC that is the second largest social group after Yadavs in the caste-ridden politics of Bihar.
During last year's Bihar assembly polls, Amit Shah announced that Samrat Choudhary will be made a 'big man' (bada aadmi) by Modi.
After the National Democratic Alliance led by Nitish Kumar returned to power with a thumping majority and the BJP emerged as the single largest party, Samrat Choudhary bagged the important home department.
This was the first time in 20 years that Nitish Kumar has given up the home department that is responsible for law and order as well as control of the police.
Samrat's weak link is that before joining the BJP eight years ago, he was in the Rashtriya Janata Dal and JD-U and is thus an outsider in the BJP.
Samrat does not have an RSS background; rather, he is the son of a veteran Socialist leader.
Other BJP leaders whose names are being discussed as the next CM are Nityanand Rai, who belongs to the same caste as RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Rai is seen as a leader with the potential to make a dent in Lalu's traditional social support base. Besides, he enjoys the confidence of the BJP's top leadership.
Another name is Prem Kumar, a former minister, who has won the Gaya assembly seat since 1990 without a break, and was elected unopposed as speaker of the Bihar assembly in November.
Prem belongs to the Chandravanshi caste of extreme backward castes. For the BJP, EBCs matter more than OBCs because they are a big vote bank.
A senior BJP leader told this correspondent that no one can say with confidence who will become the next CM of the state.
"No doubt there are several capable leaders in the BJP but the party's top leadership will decide the question. They will pick anyone up and place him or her on the CM's chair."
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
