On the coldest day in 12 years in Delhi, BJP president Amit Shah sought warmth in the company of allies Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan and announced a seat-share deal but frost caked one factor.
Neither of the allies publicly echoed Shah’s ebullient call for a victory in the general election under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
At a joint news conference, Shah said the Bihar allies had “unanimously decided to contest together, win more seats than 2014 and again form an NDA government under the leadership of Narendra Modi”.
Nitish, Bihar chief minister and JDU leader, did not once mention Modi at the news conference, held outside Shah’s home rather than the BJP headquarters. The chief minister confined himself to asserting the NDA would “contest strongly and achieve very good success” in Bihar and mildly adding that he supported Shah’s announcements.
Paswan, Union minister and LJP leader, mentioned Modi in the context of the current dispensation but omitted any reference to the BJP’s 2014 mascot while expressing confidence that the “NDA” will again form the government.
Such posturing is not uncommon in politics, especially in the run-up to elections and when hard bargaining lies ahead. Only the share of the 40 seats to be contested in Bihar — 17 each for the BJP and the JDU and six for Paswan — had been settled on Sunday. The break-up of the constituencies has not been decided yet.
But politics is also a reflection of prevailing perceptions. Against the backdrop of the BJP’s loss in the three heartland states and a perception among some allies that the Big Brother may not be able to repeat the spectacular performance of 2014, the silence of Nitish and Paswan on Modi does assume significance. If the BJP is unable to achieve a majority on its own, most allies might prefer a Prime Minister other than Modi.
On Sunday, Nitish went one step further and reminded Shah that the vaunted “Modi wave” of 2014 did not mark the NDA’s peak in Bihar, in the bargain stressing the importance of the allies.
Nitish pointed out that the NDA had won 32 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2009, when the JDU was part of the alliance. The NDA had won 31 in 2014, when the JDU had left it.
“I don’t have the habit of speaking more than is needed, but I would tell you that in 2009, there was an alliance between the BJP and the JDU. Whatever the outcome in the rest of the country, in Bihar the NDA won 32 of the 40 seats,” the Bihar chief minister said.
“Amit Shah is thinking of winning more seats compared with 2014, but I say we should win more seats than we did in 2009,” he added, Shah standing by his side.
Shah also announced a Rajya Sabha berth for Paswan, saying he would be the NDA candidate for the next vacancy that arose — a concession reflecting the BJP’s compulsion to cajole its allies after the recent setbacks.
Paswan said: “For five years we have taken care of the plant in the form of the NDA led by Narendra Modi. After the next elections, the NDA will once again form the government.” He omitted to say whether Modi would helm the new government.
“There was nothing ever. We only wanted a respectful agreement,” he said. On Sunday, Delhi recorded its coldest December temperature in the past 12 years with the mercury dipping to 3.7 degrees Celsius, PTI reported.
