Friend-turned-foe Nitish Kumar has become an unlikely beneficiary of Rahul Gandhi’s toil on the streets.
The Bihar chief minister and BJP partner has extracted a 50:50 seat-sharing deal from Amit Shah for the upcoming general election. In 2014, out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Nitish’s JDU had won only two by fighting alone while the BJP-led NDA had bagged 22.
The uncharacteristic generosity from the Big Brother is being attributed to a perception that the BJP is now under siege, thanks mostly to the Congress president’s high-decibel campaign on the Rafale scandal and the midnight raid on the CBI.
Sources said Nitish, a master at political bed-hopping, also played on the BJP’s need to put up a united front next week when a statue of Vallabhbhai Patel, christened the “Statue of Unity”, is scheduled to be inaugurated in Gujarat.
JDU insiders said Nitish had refused to attend the function if the BJP didn’t finalise the seat-sharing agreement before the spectacle. This apparently compelled BJP chief Shah, who otherwise wanted to delay the agreement, to meet Nitish and make the announcement on Friday itself.
But they refrained from disclosing the absolute figures, saying the exact numbers would be announced in a few days after discussion with two other allies, the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.
“It has been decided that the BJP and the JDU will contest an equal number of seats. Other allies will also get a respectable share,” Shah announced, Nitish by his side. “The final numbers will be announced in a few days,” he added, asserting the NDA will remain intact.
Shah acknowledged that all the NDA partners, including the BJP, would make sacrifices, in terms of seats to ensure that the NDA remained cohesive. “A new ally (the JDU) has come and so there will be reduction in the number of seats of every party,” Shah said in response to a question.
Internally, the BJP had always asserted that it would contest in a more Lok Sabha constituencies than the JDU but the agreement on Friday suggested the Big Boss had climbed down. The BJP believes that in the Lok Sabha polls, it was the Modi magic, not Nitish’s popularity, that matters.
Sources said they expected the BJP and the JDU to contest 17 seats each, sparing four for the LJP and two for Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP. Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats. According to another formula doing the rounds, the BJP and the JDU would contest 16 seats each, leaving six for the LJP and two for the RLSP.
While the Lok Janskhakti Party appeared to be ready for a climbdown, RLSP chief Kushwaha is learnt to be unhappy. “Two seats are not acceptable to us. Kushwahaji will meet Amit Shah on Monday or Tuesday and then we will take the final call,” an RLSP source said.
“All of us have to make sacrifices to keep the NDA intact. When the BJP, the largest party, is ready to sacrifice seats, then others too should reciprocate”, LJP leader and MP Chirag Paswan said, adding that Nitish would help the NDA.
While the Lok Janskhakti Party appeared to be ready for a climbdown, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha was learnt to be unhappy and sources said that his quitting the NDA couldn’t be ruled out.
“Two seats is not acceptable to us. Upendra Kushwaha ji will meet Amit Shah on Monday or Tuesday and then we will take a final call”, one RLSP source said.
“All of us have to make sacrifices to keep the NDA intact. When the BJP, the largest party, is ready to sacrifice seats then others too should reciprocate”, LJP leader and MP Chirag Paswan said, adding that Nitish would help the NDA. The LJP last time had contested seven seats and won six while the RLSP contested and won all three. One RLSP MP has rebelled and could contest as a BJP candidate.
Sources in the LJP, however, said the party has presented one condition before the BJP for their sacrifice. “We want a Rajya Sabha seat”, one party insider said. He disclosed that LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan may not contest the Lok Sabha polls this time and take the Rajya Sabha route.
