Old allies, new partnership?

New Delhi: A day after he skipped the Opposition unity lunch called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a luncheon meeting organised for visiting Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth, sparking off speculation about him gravitating towards the ruling NDA.

Mr Kumar, however, was quick to scotch the rumours, saying that too much was being read into the meeting which was a routine event. He said that he discussed issues related to his state with the PM, including desilting of the Ganga, and added that it was essential for him to be present at the meeting because Bihar has a deep connect with Mauritius.

“Half of the population in Mauritius is of Bihari origin. The Prime Minister had invited me for the luncheon and, as the state chief minister, and I decided to accept it,” he said.

On why he did not attend Mrs Gandhi’s lunch on Friday, he said that he had already met the Congress chief on May 20 and had deputed his senior party colleague, Sharad Yadav, to attend the meet.

Top leaders from 17 Opposition parties had come together on Friday to send across a message to the ruling BJP on its third anniversary. Mr Kumar was the only top leader conspicuous by his absence.

Mr Kumar did not reply to queries on allegations of corruption against his coalition partner RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family members. He said that he would only respond to facts.

Despite Mr Kumar’s public posturing about the RJD chief, sources revealed that there was a “conscious attempt by Nitish Kumar to distance himself from Lalu Prasad Yadav.”

It was also learnt that differences between Mr Kumar and the RJD chief have been growing over the past few months.

The alliance partners pulled in different directions when Mr Kumar came out openly in support of demonetisation and, later, when he toed the BJP line by going against the Opposition’s furore over EVM tampering.

Mr Kumar didn’t merely share the dais with Mr Modi in Bihar recently, but has also praised the Prime Minister saying that “he (Modi) became PM candidate in 2014 as he was capable, and as per people’s wishes.”

In turn, Mr Modi has also made friendly overtures towards Mr Kumar by “congratulating” him on imposing prohibition in Bihar.

Mr Kumar has also ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race.

A section of BJP leaders say that the way Mr Modi “continues to grow stronger with every Assembly elections,” Mr Kumar perhaps realised that the “Opposition’s attempt to unite and fight against the Modi-led BJP would be futile.” They said that by ruling himself out of the PM’s race, Mr Kumar made a “clever political move.”  

At this juncture, with almost all the top Opposition leaders — ranging from the Gandhis, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal — under scanner, Mr Kumar remains one of the few rival leaders with a clean image. If Mr Kumar joins hands with the BJP during the 2019 general elections, it will be a severe blow to the Opposition which, at the moment, has no leader who can match up to Mr Modi in popularity or approval ratings.