Rahul Gandhi is taking admission in Bihar also like West Bengal with Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Kishanganj is considered the stronghold of Congress in Bihar. Kishanganj seat is with Congress since 2009. Not only in 2014, even in 2019, when NDA had won 39 out of 40 seats in Bihar, Congress was successful in retaining the Muslim-populated area of Kishanganj – and Lalu Yadav's party RJD could not even open its account.
If Nitish Kumar's displeasure had not reached such an extent that he left the Grand Alliance and became the Chief Minister of NDA, then JDU leaders and workers could also have been seen traveling with Rahul Gandhi this time, provided the Nyaya Yatra was not Congress but INDIA Block. Would have been released under the banner of. JDU leaders have already spoken a lot about Congress taking out the Nyaya Yatra alone, and are repeating the same things even now.
JDU has held Congress more responsible than RJD for separating from the INDIA block. Of course, Nitish Kumar's return to NDA is a big blow for Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, but this is only a matter of Bihar, for Rahul Gandhi and Congress, the loss is a loss in the entire country.
Why is Nitish unhappy with Congress leadership?
Before taking oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time, while comparing the NDA and the Grand Alliance, Nitish Kumar was explaining that he had formed a new alliance by leaving the earlier alliance, but the situation did not seem right… the kind of claims and statements being made. He was making JDU leaders look bad… so he resigned and went away.
JDU leader KC Tyagi is explaining Nitish Kumar's words in his own way. It is Nitish Kumar who tried to make Congress acceptable among the leaders of opposition parties. It is also true, it was not easy to convince Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee to join the Congress.
KC Tyagi is clearly saying that there were problems with RJD regarding some minor things, but the alliance has broken because of Congress. If we understand the words of KC Tyagi, it seems as if he is still speaking to the minds of regional parties. KC Tyagi has said many things regarding Rahul Gandhi in his conversation with the media. For example, they want to strengthen the Congress, not the India Alliance… and the Congress is trying to encroach on the rights of regional parties everywhere. KC Tyagi says that Rahul Gandhi is trying to bring everyone under the Congress flag through Nyay Yatra.
It may be difficult to gauge whether Congress has suffered more loss due to Nitish Kumar's departure or Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav? Talking about Bihar, Congress was definitely together in the grand alliance, but on the front, Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar were together trying to solve the caste equations. Nitish Kumar left the Grand Alliance during the day, and this can be seen in the advertisements given in the morning newspapers. In the advertisement from RJD, the work of Bihar government of 17 months under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav was enumerated.
Obviously, in future elections too, RJD will try to show how it was working for development and employment while in power. While leaving, Nitish Kumar has left the opportunity to Tejashwi Yadav to say in the elections that he is really serious about the election promise of jobs in 2020, and can prove himself if he gets a chance. However, all this has become quite challenging recently.
Tejashwi Yadav, on his part, is saying anything against Nitish Kumar only after thinking it through, and RJD leaders have also been asked to avoid personal attacks. Lalu family knows how difficult it has suddenly become for RJD's politics to have Nitish Kumar change sides, but they must also be understanding that Congress is more responsible for this. Meaning, Rahul Gandhi may again have to become a victim of Lalu Yadav's wrath.
Lalu Yadav had joined hands with Nitish Kumar to make Tejashwi Yadav the Chief Minister. It was Lalu Yadav who took Nitish Kumar to meet Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi was among the first leaders Nitish Kumar met after leaving the NDA – but the Congress kept delaying the issue of opposition alliance. First in the name of organization elections, then in the name of assembly elections.
Nitish Kumar's patience was beginning to wear off. He had become an attacker against Congress. Of course, Lalu family also comes under the ambit of Nitish Kumar's attack on dynastic politics, but the first target was the Gandhi family – because this line suits BJP also.
How beneficial was Nitish for Congress?
1. Due to the efforts of Nitish Kumar, a consensus was being reached on raising a single front against BJP instead of a third front. Gradually he brought along most of the opposition leaders – even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee were ready for an alliance with the Congress. Had the assembly elections in Telangana been held later, it would have been K. Tried to woo Chandrashekhar Rao also.
2. The INDIA block had a great opportunity to challenge Modi by fielding a candidate from the opposition alliance against the BJP candidate. There is opportunity for war of words throughout the year, and Rahul Gandhi will get such opportunity for the next five years also. But whatever political power he had gained, Rahul Gandhi has lost it.
3. Before Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee had also tried to unite the opposition, but there was a fundamental difference in the efforts of the two leaders. While Mamata Banerjee was trying to unite the opposition by keeping Congress aside, Nitish Kumar first talked about uniting the opposition by including Congress, and stuck to it till the end. Mamata Banerjee's political line of opposition unity was somewhat like that of KCR. There was an idea like a non-Congress and non-BJP front.
4. Mamata Banerjee had already sensed that Nitish Kumar was not going to remain with the opposition alliance for long, hence even before Rahul Gandhi entered West Bengal with the Nyay Yatra, she announced to contest the elections alone in the state. Rahul Gandhi is still avoiding direct attacks on Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh is still claiming to defeat BJP together, but now such things have no special meaning.
5. After West Bengal and Bihar, now there is little hope left for Congress from UP. Akhilesh has said to give 11 seats. It remains to be seen what happens with AAP in the final in Delhi and Punjab. But JDU leader KC Tyagi claims that like Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav in UP and DMK leader MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu are also not going to give anything to Congress – if this is really the case then it is very bad news for Rahul Gandhi.
In the current political environment, BJP did not need Nitish very much, but now it seems as if he has become a bat. BJP leadership should once again be thankful to Rahul Gandhi.
