‘After spending a lot of time in BJP’s company, Nitish Kumar is looking for Congress’ help at the national level’.
Determined to unite Opposition parties against the Modi government, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is organising a grand meeting of the Opposition leaders in Patna on 12 June. Indications are that Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge and Rahul Gandhi may attend the meeting. But the question is whether the Congress is ready to learn its lessons from past mistakes. Will the grand old party underestimate its own strength and rely again on a regional party? This is what the party did in the past.
Most of the regional parties originated from the Congress. The parties which came into being on their own ate into Congress’ voters’ base. As a result, the Congress was wiped out of various states. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are the glaring examples of this.
Congress’ alliance with BSP cost it so dearly that it could not regain its lost ground in UP even in over two decades. The Congress’ decision to support AAP to form a government which lasted 49 days only again harmed it badly. The same Aam Aadmi Party almost finished the Congress in Punjab and Gujarat. The newbie party is trying to emerge as a third option in Hindi belt states. Now, the AAP is seeking Congress’ help to block the Central government’s ordinance in Rajya Sabha. However, the Congress is unlikely to come to AAP’s rescue in Rajya Sabha. Nitish Kumar wants support of AAP in uniting the Opposition bloc. Interestingly, Nitish Kumar’s politics has so far been dependent on support of other parties. After spending a lot of time in the company of the BJP, Nitish Kumar is now looking for Congress’ help at the national level. Perhaps, the Bihar CM has prime ministerial ambition. However, Congress is in no mood to support Nitish Kumar’s candidature for PM post. At the same time, Nitish Kumar is also unlikely to allow Congress to share an equal number of seats with JDU and other partners in Bihar polls. Then, it will be a bad deal for Congress.
The grand old party has problems in Maharashtra too. Regional outfits such as Uddhav Thackeray’s party and Sharad Pawar’s NCP are not allowing Congress to have its way there. Thackeray’s party will claim the CM post if the alliance gets majority in Maharashtra. Moreover, the Congress is not also going to be given as many seats as it wants in Maharashtra. Sources say that Congress has been assured of only 7-8 seats in a meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. UPA’s partner DMK also treats Congress “unfairly” in Tamil Nadu. Samajwadi Party, which Nitish wants to join the opposition bloc, does not want to give Congress even a single seat for Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, SP, BRS and AAP are unlikely to join the front which Nitish Kumar is trying to float. Congress is also non-committal on alliance issues for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress’ politics so far signals that it is not going to yield to any pressure. When the UPA was in power, the Congress paid heavy price for the “corruption” of other parties. In fact, Congress wants to remain focused on state polls. It will prepare its strategy for the Lok Sabha elections later. The Congress will be able to have an upper-hand in the Opposition bloc once it scores emphatic wins in states.