Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP that he will continue to be a part of the NDA.
But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United lent support to the Narendra D Modi government's 'One Nation-One Election' plan, in a fresh bid to send a political message that his party is comfortable within the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
The support of the JD-U, a major ally of the BJP, is crucial for the Modi government now than it was ever before.
Contrary to the speculation till last week that Kumar is not comfortable within the NDA, and could rejoin hands with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal for next year's assembly polls in Bihar, the JD-U in its official statement on Monday, made it clear that the party will support the 'One Nation-One Election' plan.
The party said that simultaneous elections would be beneficial for the nation's overall development.
After the Lok Sabha election verdict in June, the JD-U has often hinted that it is not ready to play second fiddle to the BJP in Bihar.
The party has already started a campaign in this regard by projecting Kumar as the next chief minister.
Colourful posters appeared last week in Patna with slogans -- '2025 Se 30 - Phir Se Nitish' (Nitish again from 2025 to 2030).
Sources in the JD-U said that Kumar has made it clear to the BJP leadership in Delhi that his party would contest not less than 120 of the 243 seats in the 2025 assembly polls and the remaining 133 seats to be divided among the BJP and its other allies in Bihar -- the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas of Union Minister Chirag Paswan, the Hindustani Awam Morcha of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Lok Janshakti Party of former Union minister Pasupati Kumar Paras and the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal of former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha.
"The JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party after the next assembly polls by contesting more number of seats than the BJP," a JD-U leader said.
"Despite having fewer seats, Nitishji continues as the chief minister but faced many hurdles and difficulties in running the government. Now, the JD-U has decided to work for a good number of seats. The party does not want a repeat of what Chirag Paswan had done in 2020, that weakened the party's position," the JD-U leader added.
In the 2020 assembly polls, the JD-U's tally had come down to 43 and the BJP won 74 seats.
Though the JD-U has extended support to 'One Nation-One Election', senior party leaders said there is nothing new as Nitish Kumar has been supporting this plan since 2018.
"The JD-U was in favour of 'One Nation-One Election' earlier too and we have been supporting it in principle," senior JD-U leader and former minister Neeraj Kumar said.
"The JD-U and our leader Nitish Kumar have expressed repeated support in recent years to the policy on the ground that it is a good idea. Our stand is clear, to make all party consensuses on it and to finalise a time frame to implement it," added Neeraj Kumar.
Another senior party leader said the JD-U in principle supports 'One Nation-One Election' and the party is keen for a debate and discussion at an all party meeting to implement it.
"Nitishji is a vocal supporter of 'One Nation-One Election' since the beginning. He never opposed it. Nitishji and our or party stated time and again to conduct Lok Sabha and state assembly polls together," this leader stated.
"The plan is good for the country, but all parties have to come together and approve it before the central government go ahead to implement."
According to JD-U leaders, less than a month after the party rejoined hands with the BJP in February 2024, a delegation of the party, led by senior leader Lalan Singh and Sanjay Kumar Jha, then a former minister and now its Bihar president, met former President Ramnath Kovind, who headed the committee on simultaneous elections and submitted a memorandum in support of 'One Nation-One Poll'.
On January 28, 2024, Kumar dumped the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan and rejoined hands with the BJP to form an NDA government in Bihar.
The JD-U, in its memorandum, extended support to simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state legislatures, But said that local, urban and rural bodies -- both urban panchayats and municipalities -- should be held simultaneously but separately from the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.
It further noted that simultaneous elections will strengthen good governance and reduce the financial burden caused by frequent elections by cutting the cost of logistics and expenditure on deployment of security forces and other government staff.
However, political watchers questioned the JD-U timing to announce its support for 'one nation-one election'.
A political observer in Patna said there were more important issues for the JD-U to raise at this moment in place of lending support to 'one nation-one election' which is a part of the BJP's agenda for its third term.
"This step of the JD-U is to showcase its support to the BJP's agenda. Nitish Kumar's party is not aggressive on issues like caste census, special category status to Bihar and Waqf Bill, but came forward to support 'one nation-one election'," this observer pointed out.
"The issue does not hold much water as the next Lok Sabha elections are due in 2029, while the next Bihar assembly polls are scheduled in 2025. What is the relevance of 'one nation-one election' now?" he asked.
By supporting 'one nation-one election', this observer noted that Kumar is trying to assure the BJP's top leadership that the JD-U will continue to support it, despite changing sides twice in recent years.
A political activist recalled that if the 'one nation-one election' plan was so good, Kumar spoke differently last year when he was with the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, a part of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Exactly a year ago, in September 2023, Kumar reportedly said the BJP-led central government was 'very scared of our unity and this is why they have come up with this policy only to advance the elections.'
'If they come up with a proposal of 'one nation-one election', then it will be discussed in the House openly; let us wait for that,' Kumar had said then.
A BJP leader and former minister said Kumar is an "unpredictable politician".
"Even his party leaders close to him fail to read his mind and anticipate his political moves. It has been proven half a dozen times since 2010," the BJP leader said.
"We all remember how Nitish Kumar cancelled a dinner with Modi -- who was then the chief minister of Gujarat -- in 2010 over his disapproval about an advertisement featuring him with Modi and another showing the aid provided by Gujarat during the devastating floods that had hit Bihar in 2008," he said.
Three years later, in 2013, Kumar ended his 17-year-old alliance with the BJP and, later in 2015, joined hands with the RJD and the Congress, winning the state assembly elections and forming government with their support.
In 2017, he dumped the Mahagathbandan, rejoined the NDA and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2020 assembly polls with the BJP.
And, in 2022, he dumped the BJP and joined hands with the RJD again, only to return to the NDA in January 2024.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
