Janata Dal United chief Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party boss Chandrababu Naidu on Friday pledged their continued support for Narendra Modi and heaped praise on him while subtly reminding him that they wanted their pound of flesh too.
Nitish promised to be with Modi "for all time" and wished him another term as Prime Minister from 2029.
"Humlog pure taur par sabdin ke liye saath rahenge (We shall fully and for all time be together)," the Bihar chief minister said.
Naidu, set to be sworn in as Andhra Pradesh chief minister on Tuesday, lauded Modi’s "vision and zeal".
"Today, India is having the right leader, that is, Narendra Modi. This is a very good opportunity for India. If you miss now, we will miss forever," he said.
These assertions from the two key allies, whose support is crucial to the third Modi government’s survival, came in the Central Hall of the old Parliament building where NDA members unanimously endorsed Modi as the alliance’s leader and candidate for Prime Minister.
As Modi met their remarks with a broad smile, Nitish and Naidu lost no time in pressing for quid pro quo.
“Bihar and the country will move far ahead and all Bihar’s work will get done now. Whatever work is pending will be completed. Bihar is the oldest region,” Nitish said, hinting at his longstanding demand for “special category” status for the state.
“We are fully with you and whatever you want accomplished, we will keep at it and get it done,” he told Modi.
Nitish went on assuring his continued support, keenly aware of his reputation as “Paltu Ram”, earned through his repeated political somersaults, including a pre-poll switch to the NDA weeks after helping form the INDIA bloc.
Naidu, in his speech, said: “Balancing regional aspirations and national interests (will) run parallel while ensuring holistic development for all strata of society.”
Naidu wants special concessions for Andhra, failure to secure which prompted him to quit the NDA shortly before the 2019 general election.
His emphasis on “balancing regional aspirations”, his party sources said, was a not-so-oblique reminder of his demand for a financial package for Andhra.
Portends that some of the demands from the allies could be rather unpalatable for the BJP had come on Thursday, with the JDU and another Bihar ally, the Lok Janshakti Party of Chirag Paswan, demanding a review of the Agnipath scheme of four-year military recruitments. The two parties have also demanded a nationwide caste census. Both are issues championed by the INDIA bloc.
Friday’s speeches by Nitish and Naidu would have, in that context, sounded reassuring to the BJP. Yet, both allies have a history of switching sides to further their personal and regional interests, and the BJP would feel compelled to keep a close watch on them.
Nitish and Naidu are masters of coalition politics, having been part of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA governments. The Desam has 16 MPs in addition to the two MPs of regional ally Jana Sena, while the JDU has 12. The BJP, with 240 members, is 32 short of majority and, therefore, heavily dependent on these two allies.
“It’s very good that all of us have come together. We will all work together with you (Modi). You will be taking oath as PM on Sunday but I wanted you to do it today itself,” Nitish said as Modi broke into a grin.
“Whenever you take the oath, we will be with you, we will all work under your leadership,” Nitish added.
As a further assurance to Modi, Nitish slammed the Opposition parties. “The Opposition has done nothing. I feel that the next time you (Modi) come back to power (in 2029), they will not win any of the seats they did this time,” he said.
Naidu lauded Modi for his tireless campaign during the elections and said the Prime Minister’s rallies in Andhra “made a huge difference in winning the election”.
He credited the Prime Minister with transforming India into a “global powerhouse” in 10 years and said he was confident about India becoming the planet’s third-largest economy in Modi’s third term.
