Musical Chair in Bihar

Ahmed Raza

On January 28, Nitish Kumar was sworn in as chief minister of Bihar for the ninth time, with support from the BharatiyaJanata Party [BJP]. With this, the week-old drama over the change of alliance in the state came to an end. Congress, meanwhile, made a scathing attack on Nitish Kumar and said Mr Kumar was giving tough competition to ‘chameleons’ in changing colours.

The appointment of the NDA government under Nitish Kumar and events over the last few days raise many crucial questions about the emerging contours of Indian politics. The issue of morality, for long has been abandoned in favour of political pragmatism or opportunism. Institutional structures and propriety that provided a fig leaf for deception were cast aside way back in the 1960s. Now, the crucial question is: Are ideology, morality, and legitimacy in Indian politics coming to an end? Does the mandate of the people matter in the new coalition politics that India is witnessing at the moment? When ideology is rendered irrelevant, how is the mandate of the 2020 Bihar Assembly Election to be understood?

There are numerous examples of unholy and opportunistic coalition governments, both at the centre and the state. From the time of the Janata Party government in 1977 when a disparate group of parties came together to form the first anti-Congress government at the Centre, politics of convenience continues to rule the roost. BharatiyaJanata Party-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) coalition in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was the most unexpected alliance in recent years. Ideologically they were pole apart and yet they came together to manage the exchequer. If anything , a political and opportunistic alliance often compromises the mandate given by the people. This was most apparent in Bihar in 2015 when the Janata Dal (United) and RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) came together to fight the election and form the government in Bihar, but later the RJD pulled out of the alliance in 2017 and the Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) continued in office with the support of the BJP. Nitish Kumar's JD (U) performed poorly in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections as the party was reduced to just 43 seats. Despite overshooting the partner JD (U), the BJP agreed to form the government under Nitish Kumar's leadership. The BJP needed Nitish to keep the RJD-led coalition out of power, and Nitish needed the BJP to form the government. Again, Nitish quit the NDA in 2022 and formed a government with the RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) and Congress. Political parties discard their core ideology in lieu of power gain and connect their decisions with the ‘development of the nation’. It is unfortunate that political ideology is now associated with the business of pursuing personal interests. A political ideology attempts to provide a comprehensive vision of society and human existence. It is an overarching framework within which individuals can make sense of the world and find ways to improve it.Biharhas been experiencing the lowest scores on various developmental indexes, such as low human capital, weak institutions, and poor infrastructure, as it has had a history of political instability with frequent changes in government. The execution of policies and the quality of public administration have not played a defining role in development trajectories. Economic growth and political stability are deeply interconnected. On the one hand, the uncertainty associated with an unstable political environment may reduce investment and the pace of economic development. On the other hand, poor economic performance may lead to government collapse and political unrest.

Indian party politics is typically characterised as centred on leaders, based on social cleavages, and not ideological orientation. For today’s politicians, power is the essence of life. Ideology, political commitment, and loyalty are variables. The party system that existed until a decade ago is under challenge. It is more like business executives seeking better career options. It has become purely transactional. Political parties in India appear to be personalised parties, and political credibility does not find any space. Uddhav Thackeray has so well diluted Shiv Sena’s aggressive Hindutva to accommodate his secular allies like the NCP and Congress.

Declining Nitish Kumar’s political credibility and trust among the voters in Bihar on account of personal power gains leads to a dent in JD (U) for the forthcoming 2024 parliamentary election. The JD (U), which governed Bihar for most of the period since 2005, suffered its worst electoral loss in 2020 due to the shrinking credibility space among the voters. The people of Bihar brought Nitish Kumar to power in 2005 with great expectations after 15 years of RJD’s rule. Ten years ago, Nitish Kumar was known as ‘SusashanBabu’ (an architect for good governance) in the political system, as he was then the face of development in Bihar.From 2005 to 2013, everything was fine, as he also tried his best to live up to the expectations of the people. Though, in the last 10 years, Nitish Kumar has lost political credibility, he is now the best example of repeated ‘U-turns’ politics, frequently changing political allegiance. Nitish Kumar remained in the post of chief minister and continued to run the Bihar government according to his own political, if not personal interests. His popularity and the party's influence are waning.

There appear to be a few questions about why Nitish Kumar loses his political credibility and is ready for far-reaching consequences. Whereas the BJP and Congress did not lose their credibility if they compromised their core ideologies while making unholy alliances with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir and with Shiva Sena in Maharashtra, respectively. Both the BJP and the Congress did not deal for the chief ministerial position despite having the single largest party and offered these positions to others. The BJP remained in one of the alliances under the chief ministership of Mehbooba Mufti. Like-wise, the Congress did it in Maharashtra under the chief ministership of UddhavThakrey. On the other hand Nitish Kumar has changed political alliances conveniently for the last ten years and remains as the chief minister of Bihar. Nitish Kumar always looks forward to opportunistic alliances and often compromises the mandate given by the people.

Nitish Kumar’s credibility is always questionable in the ‘INDIA’ alliance owing to frequent political flip-flops. Nitish Kumar had brought the concept of the ‘INDIA’ alliance in order to counter the BJP at the national level and shifts his alliance which weakens people’s faith in democratic institutions. It should be a cause for concern in Indian politics.

[The author is Assistant Professor in MANUU University]

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Frontier
Vol 56, No. 34, Feb 18 - 24, 2024