Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are striving hard to find a consensus candidate as the NDA chief minister in Bihar. , but the Mahagathbandhan has struck a major psychological blow to Modi and Shah by creating a Coordination Committee headed by the RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav, the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly. This decision of the opposition leader is in fact virtually leaves no space for any speculation about the opposition candidate for the task of CM. CPI(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the formal announcement would be met after some time. They are not in a hurry. The next meeting of the opposition leaders would take place on May 4.
The April 17 meeting at which this decision was made has also acquired importance for Vikassheel Insan Party participating at the meet and endorsing this decision of other five constituents. Till recently VIP has been a part of the NDA. Formation of the Coordination Committee gives a decent burial to the vicious propaganda of saffron ecosystem and pro-BJP section of media that Congress was against Tejashvi becoming the chief minister.
It is also significant that the participant leaders described the move as the first major step towards reviving INDIA bloc. Their emphatic thrust on INDIA bloc was aimed at sending a strong message across the country that INDIA bloc is alive and kicking. Interestingly the saffron ecosystem, especially Narendra Modi who prefer to call it “INDI alliance”, has been busy creating the impression that it has died and does not exist.
The Congress leadership prevailed on other partners and managed to have a major say in giving a shape to the working of the INDIA bloc is also evident from various committees formed at the meet to provide a concrete functional dimension to the alliance. For the general secretary of the CPI(ML)-L, Dipankar Bhattacharya, this has been a major move and would make other partners to realise their responsibilities. A sense of discipline and dedication would guide them.
He nursed the feeling that if this mechanism would have been in place earlier, the INDIA bloc would have emerged as a major political force. He also agreed to the view that this would not provide unbridled power to the chief minister and would ensure a collective functioning. He also lauded the partners of INDIA bloc for forming Committee for Common Minimum Programme, which would identify the priorities and evolve dynamical procedure for accomplishing the growth and development programmes.
During his eleven year rule, Narendra Modi abolished the backward area grant and did not provide the special status to Bihar. He had promised to help Agro Based industries. But it never happened. He finished Makhana Research institute and instead set up Makhana Board in Delhi. It is a known fact that the farmers were getting input about enriching the Makhana research centre when it operated from Bihar. Modi did not accord the status of Central University to Patna University.
A section of national media has tried to create the impression that Rahul Gandhi’s nominee Krishna Allavaru, entrusted with the task to revive the Bihar unit of the party, has been showed door by Lalu Yadav and asked to interact with his son Tejashvi. These people completely tried to stifle the fact a new young political leadership was emerging in Bihar. Quite significantly Allavaru and VIP chief Mukesh Sahani were seen seated on the right and left side of Tejashvi. It does not need a high order of academic intellect to make out what does it imply. It is also significant to see that former state Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, a chum of Lalu Yadav, who was replaced by Rajesh Kumar was not invited though he had lobbied hard for a seat at the meet. Now after the meet, only yesterday he was learnt to have expressed his feeling to leave the Congress.
Even the Left foresees Congress to play a significant role in the seat sharing and evolving strategy for electioneering. Allavaru is already on record that Congress was not a B-team to any party. In Bihar for decades, the Congress has played second fiddle to RJD and followed the dictates of Lalu. This was after a long time the Congress leadership asserted its own independent standing.
As if this was not enough section of media is busy creating the impression that Kanhaiya Kumar has been dumped. They are using absence of Kanhaiya at the meet. They conveniently forgets that Kanhaiya has been never been a functionary of the state Congress. He had led the “nau karido, palayan roko” rally at the direction of Rahul Gandhi. But with the aim to create confusion and turn a section of the Congressmen hostile to him, media had talked of Kanhaiya as the CM face of Congress. This was also aimed at torpedoing the Congress-RJD relationship just ahead of election.
Even a politically naïve knows that such issues are not finalised at a public gathering. Interestingly after the Delhi meet with Rahul and Kharge, Tejashwi had said that another round of discussions would take place in Patna. The Congress leadership has been playing safe. Projecting the CM face will help BJP restructure its electoral strategy, which Rahul is unwilling to provide. The political experts hold after April 17 meet the Congress is waiting for the reaction of the OBC, Dalits and EBCs and also a section of upper castes hostile to RJD.
Meanwhile sources maintain that after April 17 meet, a number of JD(U) leaders, close to Nitish have contacted Congress leaders. For them situation has turned favourable for them to rejoin the Congress. While Congress is planning to forge a strong alliance of the OBC, EBC and Muslims with the Yadavs as the core support base, the BJP is playing the old card of caste animosity between Yadavs and other OBC and EBC castes. Their primary task for Congress is to reach out to its target group and win over their trust on political and ideological issues.
INDIA bloc sources say that realising the political significance of the outcome of 2025 state assembly polls, RJD will not prefer to act as a big brother and instead try to accommodate the partners. In 2020, the RJD had won 75, BJP 74, JD(U) 43, Congress , CPI(ML)-L 12 and the CPI and the CPI(M) two each. Congress was allotted 70 seats. The strike rate of Congress was poor. It is expected that the RJD would treat the partners fairly this time. . Nevertheless it is hoped that with the issue of the CM face being informally finalised, Tejashvi to become the new CM, the RJD will like a leader of a winning coalition. (IPA Service)
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