Bihar battle: The importance of being Nitish Kumar

Before the Assembly elections were announced in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was much condemned politician of the state -- a man facing 20 years of anti-incumbency, targeted by the Opposition for being remote-controlled by the BJP, and the saffron party, though acknowledging him as the NDA's leader, stopping short of announcing him as the CM face. Worst, his "mental health" has been questioned by the RJD and the Congress, and in private by BJP leaders.

Yet, half way through the poll, the perception has changed. Nitish has mostly avoided the limelight of being next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and preferred to go solo in his campaigning. When a much younger politician, Tejashwi Yadav, preferred to remain at home as weather conditions grounded helicopters, and he preferred to address 16 rallies online, Nitish still travelled 700 km by road to continue his outreach.

There is no flamboyancy in Nitish's speech. He sticks to facts and figures highlighting his achievements in the last 20 years, mentioning his predecessor saying that nothing had been done for the state, and law and order had collapsed. Unlike the BJP, Nitish has not only skipped the issue of infiltration, but also spoken about the work he has done for the Muslims, such as protecting their graveyards from encroachments, educating the community women via schemes and ensuring no communal violence takes place.

Against dynasty politics

The JD(U) veteran is among few politicians who believe in ethics. Before the poll was announced, there was a clamour within the party for Nitish to introduce his son Nishant into politics. "Nitishji stood firm saying that with what face would he stand before the people when all along his political career he had opposed dynasty politics," recalled a JDU leader who pleaded the Nishant's case. Despite being in the seat of power, there is not a single shred of evidence on corruption against him, though the same cannot be said about his ministers.

No pushover

Despite his age, anti-incumbency and questions about his mental health, Nitish has proved that he's not a pushover. Nitish made his disappointment known when several segments with sitting JD(U) MLAs were conceded in the seat-sharing formula in Delhi. "I do not mind contesting 101 seats only, but I will not give my sitting seats to other parties; ask them (the BJP) to rewrite the seat-sharing formula accordingly. If the BJP does not do so, tell them they can fight on their own," he told JD(U) leaders. In the end, Nitish had his way and conceded only one sitting seat, Tarapur -- the place from where Dy CM Samrat Choudhary is contesting -- to the BJP. Nitish even went to Tarapur to campaign for Samrat.

The game changer

It is Nitish who gave the NDA what is known as the game changer in the poll -- Rs 10,000 seed money to 1,3 crore Jeevika workers, hike in social pension and 125 units of power free. "I could see hostility turning into warmth in my constituency," remarked a BJP MLA contesting from a mithilanchal area for the third time. Even PM Modi uses this scheme in all his speeches "Many give credit to Modi for the schemes, but women know that it has been Nitishji who gave them the money," said a JD(U) leader. The schemes have rattled the Mahagathbandhan and they have promised to hike the amount in each scheme.

Seasoned leader

To understand Nitish, one has to understand his politics. After being a Lalu loyalist, he broke off with Lalu in 1994 to form his own Samata Party, which went on to win only seven of the 324 seats. Nitish was acknowledged as the leader of Kurmi caste only - the caste which amounts to just 2 per cent of the population mostly living in or around Nalanda district. From there, he cobbled up a formidable caste combination consisting of non-Yadav OBCs and extremely backward castes. Despite his debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll -- the only time he went solo and won two seats but over 15 per cent of the votes -underlining the fact that the Luv Kush combination and a part of EBC votes are firmly behind him. It is a vote percentage the BJP cannot do without if they want to remain in power and defeat the RJD, "Even after the elections, Nitish will be fully in control and I do not agree to Prashant Kishore that he will get no more than 25 seats," said a senior BJP leader.