Bihar

All NDA allies in Bihar are grumbling and unhappy. One reason is that the NDA has ‘House Full’-like situation in terms of division of seats, as in 2014 NDA won 31 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. With Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) joining the alliance, existing allies are worried about getting fewer seats to contest in the next general election. They are also worried by the humiliating losses suffered by BJP in bypolls in prestigious seats in neighbouring Purvanchal. Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi took his Hindustani Awam Morcha out of the NDA on February 28, and promptly tied up with the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress alliance in Bihar.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has cut a sorry figure ever since he broke the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan and allied with the BJP to form the state government in 2017. Despite having more seats than BJP, Nitish has appeared the junior partner in the government. The man who ditched Lalu Prasad Yadav supposedly due to alleged corruption by RJD leaders, has been silent all through a series of allegations of corruption against BJP leaders. He was silent while his BJP colleagues issued the worst kind of communal rhetoric both before and after the campaign for the recent bypolls. However on March 19, anguished by a spate of communal incidents, including one where BJP union minister Giriraj Singh was caught on camera allegedly inciting a mob to shout slogans against a senior police officer in Darbhanga, Nitish finally broke his silence. He said “Neither did I compromise with corruption, nor I will compromise with those trying to divide the society. I'm for complete communal and social peace.” He went on to support Ram Vilas Paswan’s comments (see below) saying "I know Paswan very well and without applying his mind he won't speak on these issues."

Nitish also embarassed the BJP by making it clear that it was not JD(U)’s wish to field a candidate in the Jahanabad bypoll, but did so only because of intense pressure from BJP knowing that the outcome was a foregone conclusion, only to avoid being blamed once the results were out. He implied that the BJP did not want to fight a losing electoral battle and forced JD(U) into the field.

Then on March 17 came an even more worrying development for the BJP, as its ally and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan—who has famously been with all governments since 1996, and whose statements are taken seriously as an indication of the political weather—suddenly started praising the Congress. “NDA needs to take along all sections of the society. Congress also ruled the country for several decades by building an inclusive society,” said Paswan. On Sunday, March 18, Paswan added “They (BJP) need to change mass perception in terms of minorities, Dalits. Aren't there secular leaders in BJP?”

The same day, sources in Bihar told National Herald that though Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP remained with NDA for now, there is unhappiness across rank and file of the party and RLSP may be the next to quit NDA. These sources said Kushwaha has been unhappy since the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, as the rise of the BJP has reportedly halted his ambitions of expansion in UP. Kushwaha, a Koeri leader, is also unhappy with rival Nitish Kumar’s home-coming to NDA. On March 19, RLSP spokesperson Fazal Imam Mallick told NH that “Since it is an alliance of many parties, there are and would be disagreements but it does not mean that we would quit the alliance.” However, Mallick refused to confirm whether RLSP would fight the next general elections along with BJP, saying “At this juncture, we should not say anything about it.”