Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has become the first Narendra Modi ally to posit himself as Prime Minister material.

It is moot whether he is taunting Modi with a pitch for greater leverage, or this is the early warning of another political somersault, a Nitish speciality.

What is not under doubt is that Nitish’s pitch for prime ministership, if it can be called that, has no legs to stand on. For a start, Nitish doesn’t possess a socio-political base of his own to make such a claim. Besides, his credibility is deeply suspect in political circles, and his unreliability as ally established.

The “soft pitch” as a contender to Prime Minister Modi was made at the just ended two-day national council meeting of the Janata Dal United (JDU).

It comes on the heels of the JDU queering the pitch for the BJP recently by teaming up with the Opposition parties over the demand for a caste census in the country.

The JDU has previously differed with the BJP over a probe into the Pegasus snooping scandal, population control laws, scrapping of Article 370 provisions, uniform civil code, National Register of Citizens, the National Population Register and a host of other issues.

“The proposal to denote Nitish Kumar as Prime Minister material was moved by party president Lalan Singh. It was unanimously adopted and was meant to remove confusion over the issue that keeps making news. The proposal makes it clear that he has all the qualities to become the Prime Minister, but is not a contender,” JDU secretary-general K.C. Tyagi said on Sunday evening.

Tyagi’s statement before journalists sparked off a storm of similar statements by JDU leaders on Sunday.

“We are just speaking the plain truth that Nitish Kumar is Prime Minister material. It is a fact that he could prove to be a better Prime Minister for the country in the future. We are not saying this to annoy anybody. We don’t care if anybody gets annoyed over this,” said JDU parliamentary board chairman and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha.

However, senior party leaders and those who have worked with Nitish earlier read several meanings into the latest development.

“Nitish is a master politician. The statement issued at the end of the JDU national council meeting on Sunday means many things. He has to play a junior partner with 43 seats in the Assembly to the BJP, which has 75, and is not feeling comfortable in the alliance. Several BJP leaders, including its state unit president, have been taking pot shots at Nitish or questioning his policies,” a veteran politician who has known Nitish since his student days in the 1970s told The Telegraph.

“This could be Nitish’s warning to the BJP over the situation. He could also be preparing the ground to quit the NDA. It could also be a signal to Lalu Prasad and his Rashtriya Janata Dal to be ready for the future political developments,” he added.

The veteran leader also pointed out that the JDU move to anoint Nitish “Prime Minister material” could also be to ensure that he is not left out of the Opposition bandwagon that is regrouping to counter Modi after Mamata Banerjee’s victory in the Bengal elections.