BJP treads carefully as Nitish's circle holds sway

BJP's sensitivity to Nitish hampers decision-making, as JDU's popularity continues to decline steadily.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

With the Bihar elections less than nine months away, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state, which is in coalition with the Janata Dal United (JDU), is ensuring that it gives no reason for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to get upset and consider a potential tie-up with his former ally-turned-foe, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

However, this 'care' or 'over-sensitivity' towards the 73-year-old Kumar, who announced in the 2020 polls that the 2025 elections would be his last, has resulted in state BJP leaders and ministers failing to assert themselves, even in areas where they are constitutionally mandated to act.

BJP leaders from Patna, who were in Delhi for political and social meetings over the past month, told The Sunday Guardian that they are working with their hands tied when it comes to decision-making on governance. Everything has to be first checked by Kumar and his small circle of bureaucrats and associates before it is cleared at the policy level.