When Lotus hits arrow

The police from a BJP-ruled state of Karnataka come to a NDA-ruled state of Bihar (where BJP is junior coalition partner in the government headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar) to arrest a suspected terrorist and then produce the arrested youth before a judicial magistrate in a third state—the BJP-ruled Jharkhand. Was this a sheer coincidence or does this tell the grown-up distrust between BJP and JD-U? Manoj Chaurasia tries to find out the answer…

THEY had joined hands together to throw out the “corrupt and inefficient” government of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, the first couple to rule Bihar for 15 years by turns, although their ideologies poled apart— one professing socialist ideals while the other taking to the route of hard-line Hindutva as its political agenda centred around construction of a magnificent Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The strange political “handshake” of the time between the rightist BJP and the “socialist” Samata Party of Nitish Kumar, which later merged with the JD-U, had taken place during the 1996 general elections when the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee first came to power at the centre – well after the demolition of Barbri mosque on 6 December 1992, highlighting their political urgency to capture throne of Patliputra. Now that the goal is achieved, the NDA partners, as is being said, are frequently looking for ways to separate as cracks in their relations are now only too visible, almost beyond repairs. Rather, it can be said their infighting has assumed alarming proportion so much so that they are now viewing each other with suspicion. The recent arrest of an alleged terrorist Mohammad Kafil Ahmad suspected to have been involved 2010 Chinanswami stadium blast in Bangalore by the Karnataka police from Bihar is a pointer to the fact.

See the sequence of events: The police from a BJP-ruled state of Karnataka come to a NDA-ruled state of Bihar (where BJP is junior coalition partner in the government headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar) to arrest a suspected terrorist and then produce the arrested youth before a judicial magistrate in a third state—the BJP-ruled Jharkhand. The arrest is made from Barh-Samalia village in north Bihar’s Darbhanga district past weekend without informing the local authorities, shortly after the Bihar chief minister had raised the issue of recurring violation of state boundaries by some states during the recently held meeting in New Delhi over National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

The moot question now here is that why the Karnataka police chose to travel about 425 km on the hot and humid weather to reach Ranchi to produce the arrested “terrorist” in a court there, instead of covering just 130 km to reach Patna and complete the basic legal formalities? Moreover, there is also a direct flight between Patna and Bangalore. Further, why did the Karnataka police produce the arrested youth in a Jharkhand court although the place of arrest falls under the jurisdiction of Bihar? The answer is not far away to seek. A letter by the Karnataka chief minister Sadanand Gowda to his Bihar counterpart after the latter strongly objected to the manner in which the arrest was made seems lifting the veil over the suspense griping the arrest drama. In his letter Gowda cites “paucity of time” and “fear of the accused to escape police arrest” behind his police’s logic to produce the arrested “terrorist” in a Ranchi court.

However, the very logic fails to cut any ice with the Bihar chief minister as is evident from his letter addressed to his Karnataka counterpart, “You will acknowledge that there should be no apprehension in mind of any visiting officer of any state about the professional integrity of such senior police officers available at Darbhanga (the place of arrest). Hence, the visiting team of officers (from Karnataka) since 5 May 2012 had ample time and opportunity to organise their operation by taking our officers into confidence”. The exchange of their letters brings out some important points – one chief minister citing “paucity of time” and “fear of accused to escape” while other asserting that “professional integrity” of his officers should not be doubted.

Was all these a mere coincidence or is it the outcome of the growing distrust between the BJP and the JD-U over the years? Whatever may be the reason but it is a reality that warmth between two NDA partners is totally missing now and the present development could be the outcome of the growing distrust between them. The situation has come to such a passé that what once appeared to a fight between the two alliance partners has now turned into a full-blown fight between the JD-U and BJP-ruled states.

Although several times during the past three years, the police from other states, such as Maharashtra and Delhi, raided Bihar to arrest nearly a dozen youths suspected to have involved in many terrorist activities like Mumbai terrorist attacks and Delhi High Court blasts, the Bihar chief minister had only muted protests. He reacted angrily only after noticing the Karnataka police’s daredevilry. The anger of the Bihar chief minister is underlined from the fact that not only did he shot off a letter to his Karnataka counterpart but also his police lodged a formal protest with the Karnataka DGP. The Bihar CM is also expected to take up the matter with the Union Home Ministry. The JD-U leadership in Bihar has further vented its anger towards its alliance partner over the way a senior BJP leader and health minister in the Nitish Kumar government Ashwini Kumar Choube supported the candidature of Modi at a function held in Gujarat early this month to mark 100 years of the creation of Bihar. “Mr Modi should aim for PM’s post and Bihar will support his candidature”, remarked Choube at the function in the presence of Gujarat CM, prompting the JD-U to seek clarification from the BJP as to if it was the official view of the alliance partner. The BJP replied in the negative saying it was “personal” view of the minister.

The tug-of-war between the NDA partners has intensified especially in the aftermath of the BJP chief Nitin Gadkari backed by the RSS unsuccessfully trying to project Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as the NDA Prime Ministerial candidate while the Bihar chief minister now nurses this big ambition. It was due to this ambition that Mr Kumar decided to flag off the “Jan Chetana Yatra” of LK Advani launched from JP birth place in October last year. Initially Advani was to launch his yatra from Gujarat but he finally shifted to Bihar since Modi refused to lend his support, perceiving it as threats to his candidature. Mr Kumar was only too quick to flag off Advani’s yatra since he too finds Modi a bigger threat to his prime ministerial ambition. With his eyes firmly set on set on “Mission Delhi”, Kumar has gone on extensively wooing the minorities by launching a series of programmes aimed at winning the faith the Muslim community who accounts for 16 percent of the total vote share quite instrumental in deciding the fate of any government.  JD-U insiders say Mr Kumar’s mission this time is to win all the 40 Lok Sabha seats of Bihar in the next 2014 general election. Apparently apprehending that the JD-U may dump them at any time in its bid to claim the throne for New Delhi, the BJP has resorted to hardline Hindutva to woo the hardcore Hindu voters. A sudden spurt in RSS activities in the state tells much. 

Mr Kumar’s repulsion towards Modi is only too well-known. Since the time he came to power after November 2005 assembly elections in Bihar, the Bihar chief minister has not allowed Mr Modi to campaign for the NDA candidates, neither during the April-May 2009 Lok Sabha polls nor during the October-November 2010 assembly polls in Bihar. Earlier, during the May 2010 BJP national executive body meeting held in Patna, the chief minister had cancelled dinner hosted in honour of the vising guests and even returned Rs 5 crore cheque to Gujarat government donated for the 2008 Kosi disaster merely after the BJP carried an advertisement in local dailies showing the Bihar chief minister clasping hands with Modi.

As of now the battle between the two partners has become just order of the day as both the partners have begun encroaching into each other’s vote bank. While the BJP has begun wooing Mahadalits (extremely backward caste) which the JD-U claims its vote-bank, the latter has started holding minority class rallies in the constituencies held by the saffron party. This has led to tension between the two partners. This was visible during the recent UP assembly elections where the BJP refused to accept the JD-U’s seat-sharing deal as the two partners fought against each other. The JD-U reacted soon by not sparing the third seat for its partners during the recent Rajya Sabha elections to six seats in Bihar. Eventually, the JD-U walked away with four RS seats against only two spared for the BJP.

The JD-U has begun cold-shouldering the BJP over one issue after another shortly after it has reached near the majority mark. Right now, the total strength of the JD-U in the Bihar Legislative Assembly is 118, which is only four short of the majority mark. Yet forming government on its own is not the problem of the JD-U given the fact it has also the support of six independents. Perhaps Mr Kumar has this in mind that the Muslims votes may go en-bloc to the JD-U if goes it alone at the polls, severing ties with the BJP. Apparently this has forced the BJP to keep a barb on its partner in various ways.

Strangely, Nitish Kumar as the chief minister has been the creation of BJP, and not the JD-U which now has gone on dominating over its saffron friend. The NDA had got only 92 seats (JD-U- 55 and BJP-37) in the 243-member Bihar assembly when it went to the polls without declaring its chief ministerial candidate during the February-March 2005 assembly election. NDA’s prospects were married further when the then JDU’s national president George Fernandes, while replying to a query by the newsmen, denied Mr Kumar would be the chief minister in the event of NDA gaining majority stating that the matter will be decided after polls. (It was apparently after this that serious differences grew between Mr Kumar and Fernandes who later was not only robbed off party presidentship but also had to shift to his old constituency of Muzaffarpur during the 2009 LS polls which he lost badly). However, since the assembly results threw up hung House, it was finally dissolved within seven months of polling had taken place. In the next assembly elections held in October-November the same, the NDA though widely projected Mr Kumar as the Chief Ministerial candidate and it was finally able to form government in the state with coalition together bagging 143 seats (JD-U-88 and BJP-55). In the last 2010 assembly polls, the NDA just created a history when it made a clean sweep in the state winning 206 seats (JD-U 115 and BJP-91) in the 243-mmeber state assembly.

But, the chief minister despite all poll calculations in his mind and anguish towards his partners appears to be in double mind on the issue of throwing out the BJP from its boat. The JD-U knows that BJP is a cadre-based national party which is support base among the upper castes and business while its presence is limited to only few states with its following in a section of backward class and too some extent in minorities. There is also a view within the JD-U that upper caste voters may turn against it in the event of breaking relations with the BJP which came to its rescue during bad phases of its life. Apparently this fear is preventing the chief minister from severing ties with its saffron party but politics is the game of unpredictable and nothing can be said for sure in politics.

Nitish keeps BJP out from rally for Bihar's "rights"

 http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=415597&catid=36

Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

After seven consecutive years in power, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has begun to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and arch-rival, RJD chief Lalu Prasad.  

During his RJD government's 15 years in power, Prasad was infamous for holding rallies. Kumar now looks to be primarily focussing on just two things: undertaking yatras across the state and holding rallies. Kumar's efforts are aimed at attracting the attention of the masses at regular intervals until the dates of the Lok Sabha elections are announced. 

In line with his long-term game-plan, the chief minister has now deputed all 17 JD-U ministers in the NDA government to supervise preparations for the much-publicised Aadhikar Rally to be held at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on 6 November to press for Special Category status for Bihar. The chief minister passed this order while presiding over a meeting of top JD-U functionaries at his official residence here today. 

The ministers have been directed to supervise rally preparations at the district level, with some ministers even tasked to look after preparations in more than one district. Bihar has 38 districts. The chief minister has even drawn up a mass mobilisation campaign for the next four months and instructed ministers to go all-out to make the rally a major success.   

Significantly, all 12 BJP ministers have been kept out of the rally though the issue concerns the entire state, and the BJP has been campaigning for this demand side-by-side its alliance partner.

Even the deputy chief minister, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who is considered close to the chief minister, has not been given any role in the rally ~ another indication of a widening gap between the ruling partners in the NDA government.   

Although the purpose of the rally, on the surface, is to press for granting Special Category status to Bihar ~ a demand which has already been shot down by the Centre ~ the inside story is that the JD-U is trying hard to galvanise its voters through such public programmes and keep them in "poll mode" ahead of the next general election, which is still two years away.  

In addition to the rally, the chief minister has been constantly undertaking yatras across the state to win over the hearts of the masses and address any grievances they might have, then and there. In the past three years, Kumar has undertaken as many as five such yatras. 

Curiously, the chief minister has suddenly begun chalking out party programmes quite intensively in the aftermath of the prevailing sourness between the two partners over the issue of a “secular” PM candidate.

What is even more peculiar is that the JD-U has been constantly “targeting” the BJP with clinical perfection without showing any kind of animosity in public, constantly using "goody-goody" for its alliance partner.

“We have a 16-year-old alliance and our bond is very strong,” is what the JD-U leaders keep on telling the media, even as it continues its “poaching” drive.  

Yesterday, the JD-U lured senior BJP leader Sanjay Jha into the party and reports are that many more BJP members will be inducted into the JD-U very soon. The BJP, on the other hand, is said to be planning to lure away rebel JD-U leaders, including Upendra Kushwaha and Chhedi Paswan.  

BJP "caught" in Nitish's master game-plan

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=415487&catid=36

Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

Amid the prevailing tension between the ruling partners over the issue of a “secular” PM candidate, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD-U today inducted a senior BJP leader, Sanjay Jha, into the party, inviting a strong reaction from the BJP which termed it utter violation of “coalition dharma”.

This is the first time that its own partner has become a victim of JD-U poaching. The BJP turncoat, according to reports, has been promised a Lok Sabha ticket from Darbhanga seat, currently held by Kirti Azad in Parliament.

According to informed sources, the JD-U may use Jha to lure more BJP leaders into the party, as part of an apparent plan to weaken the saffron forces in Bihar and eventually reduce it to a spent force before the dates of the next general elections are announced.

An influential Brahmin leader, Jha, who was considered close to Arun Jaitley was inducted into the party by the state JD-U chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh at the residence of the chief minister in full media glare. A host of senior JD-U leaders and ministers were present to welcome Jha into the party.

Both the parties are coalition partners in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in power in Bihar since November 2005. “This should not be made an issue…After all, I have joined the coalition partner, and not some other party”, Jha told newsmen soon after the function. The development would not have any adverse impact on the BJP-JD-U coalition, he said.

Asked what the logic was behind leaving one ruling coalition partner for another, Jha explained that for quite some time, he had closely worked with the JD-U and its ideology had impressed him. He claimed he had joined the party with the consent of everyone.

For several months now, the JD-U had been eyeing Jha and his ditching the BJP had become a strong likelihood when in April the party refused to re-nominate him to the Bihar legislative council.

The haste with which Kumar has lured Mr Jha into his party has surprised the BJP, especially when the JD-U had declared a “truce” shortly after a bitter war of words erupted between the two partners over the issue of the NDA putting up a "secular” person as its PM candidate for the next general election. 

The move has evoked sharp criticism from the BJP which described it as the worst kind of poaching. “Such things were not expected from a partner which had been in coalition for the past 16 years… this is purely unethical and utter violation of coalition dharma”, said the state BJP secretary, Mrintunjay Jha.

However, the JD-U rejected the BJP charges. “This is not dhokhaghadi (distrust); rather Mr Jha has joined the party voluntarily”, said agriculture minister Narendra Singh. But, the food and civil supplies minister Shyam Rajak appeared to throw broad hints about what was going to happen in future when he announced “a good many” BJP leaders were in touch with the JD-U leadership. 

Asked to name them, he just said, “Aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya (Just wait what happens next)...”

The relation between the two partners has become strained in the aftermath of the Bihar chief minister demanding that the NDA's prime ministerial candidate should have “secular” credentials. Kumar’s JD-U is also supporting the candidature of UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee while BJP’s is supporting PA Sangma. 

Bihar defies India's economic slump, and how

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=414796&catid=36

Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

While the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government at the centre is battling hard to somehow contain the economic slump now badly affecting the Indian economy, it is surprisingly a different story out there in the cow-belt of Bihar.

At least, this is what explains the amazingly high demands of vehicles among the “poor” residents in this eastern Indian state whose economy, as Bihar government records claims, has grown by an startling 11.36 percent in the past six years of Nitish Kumar regime, leaving far behind even the most developed states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab.

Official figures suggest that the sale of vehicles has registered a terrific 500 percent jump in the past five years in Bihar defying the current trend in the country when the sale of vehicles has been badly hit owing to the spiralling fuel price and high interest rate especially in the past seven months.

In the first two months of the current fiscal as well, around 75,000 vehicles have been sold in Bihar showing people’s love for luxury and triggering a debate among the economists about the increasing “purchase capacity” of common Biharis.

State authorities, though, have a different story to tell. According to them, silky roads and improved law and order have pushed up the vehicle sales in Bihar as in the changed situation driving has become a pleasure here. 

They say the vehicles’ sale is registering a growth of 50 to 55 percent every year as now there is no bump on state’s roads once known for being pot-holed, ditched looks virtually turning the whole of the state into a market of auto-parts.

Now with good roads cutting the travel hours just by half, driving is not only a pleasure here but it has also replaced the markets of auto-parts with markets of automobiles itself with many leading national as well as international automobile companies opening up their show rooms across the state, apparently encouraged by the good cash flow in the market.

The illuminating show rooms of prominent car-making companies, such as General Motors, Hyundai Motors and Ford India in addition to very own “Maruti Udyog” even in far-off places are just an indication of how state’s economy has grown over the years, says the government.

The available statistics too appear to be supporting the government’s claim. As per government records, a total of 80,363 vehicles were sold in 2005-06 ~ the year when the Rabri Devi government had quit the throne in Bihar but in the last financial year (2011-2012), its sale touched a whopping 440,000 (including 32,090 cars) figure~ recording a jump of more than 500 percent! 

As per the records, in the financial year 2005-06, the total number of vehicles sold in the state was a petty 80,363, which went up to 1,47,309 vehicles in 2006-07;  1,61,757 in 2007-08;  2,20,413 in 2008-09;  3,27,433 in 2009-10;  3,86,223 in 2010-11 and 4,39,671 in the last financial 2011-12 while in the first two months of the current financial year, as many as 74,928 vehicles have already been sold.

So, from where this money is coming when according to government’s own record, the total percentage of state’s population living below poverty line (BPL) is around 70 pefcent?  

“The rise in sale of vehicle is indicative of the fact that state’s economy is slowly getting strengthened”, Bihar’s transport minister Brishen Patel said. He added that the smooth roads and lack of fear factor among the villagers had further hastened the vehicle sales. According to an official report, altogether 13,322. 80 km of roads have been built by the Nitish Kumar government since it took over in November 2005.

However, the economists familiar with the overall state of affairs in Bihar reject the government’s “turnaround” theory resulting in push in car sales and, instead, describe the “huge flow of black money in markets” as the prime reason behind the alarming jump in car sales in the last few years. 

“The growth model of the Nitish Kumar government is such that money has got centrelised in very few hands (just 5 to 10 percent people), state’s plan size has increased from Rs 6,000 crores to now 28,000 crores while corruption has grown up by 500 percent in the last few years under the NDA regime. Much of the money being used for buying cars is, thus, obviously ‘ill-gotten’ wealth which ought to have been spent on launching development schemes”, explained an eminent economist and a senior professor of economics at the Patna University Professor Nawal Kishore Chaudhary. 

According to him, the present economic condition of the state is such that the ‘looted’ money is being utilized in only two things ~ they are either being invested in real estate which has alarmingly pushed up the land price by five-fold or for enjoying luxury by purchasing expensive cars. “The present economic scenario prevents the ‘corrupt’ to invest money in big business since there is no or limited scope for setting up big industries”, he opined.

Economists say that the growth in Bihar is not sustainable as it has been virtually led by the secondary and tertiary sectors with construction contributing 26.6 percent and hotel business contributing 20.1 percent of the state total growth while agriculture which is the mainstay of state economy and upon which more than 80 percent of state’s total 10 crore population is dependent has shown a negative growth under the present NDA regime. 

“If Bihar has really shown a turnaround and outperformed developed states in the country in matter of economic growth, why would have the chief minister constantly harping on seeking from the Centre the special category status for his state despite his request being rejected earlier by the UPA government?” ask the economic experts. 

No case in 100 years at this Indian village

http://thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=414418&catid=35

Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

At a time when cases of crime and corruption filling the pages of newspapers may well be causing people to tear the hair from their heads, so to speak, this story from Nawada district, in southern Bihar, comes as a whiff of fresh air.  

Residents at Padia village, tucked away in Roh block in Nawada district, claim they don’t recall having filed any cases either with the police or in the court in the last 100 years as they have no history of quarrels involving bloodshed or major violence.  

This comes at a time when millions of cases are pending in the courts awaiting disposal, many of them from decades back.  

Villagers of Padia say petty cases of disputes indeed occur at intervals but whenever such situations arise, they convene a meeting of the local panchayat and sort out the dispute cordially with the help of elderly citizens, rather than involving police or the judiciary.  

The initiative, they say, has not only ensured peace in the village but also saved them both time and money. 

They add that the village panchayat never imposes monetary fines on any of the culprits given the poor financial background of the villagers. Instead, the "criminals" are asked to do sit-ups or tender apology before the entire village as punishment for their crime.  

The village comprises some 150 families, dominated by backward class people.

The local sarpanch, Mundrika Prasad Chaurasia says on an average two to three cases of petty disputes reach the village panchayat every month. “But we are always careful that the disputes do not turn violent… we try to sort out the case at the earliest in a cordial way”, said Chaurasia. 

Citing a recent example, he said a dispute over a piece of land occurred between two brothers, Suresh Prasad and Saryoo Prasad, but the panchayat resolved the land dispute and both parties to the dispute returned home happy.

A 90-year-old resident, Babulal Chaurasia, claimed he did not recall any dispute going beyond the village panchayat in his lifetime. 

“Why do we need the police or the court when we can solve any dispute at our own level? Our own panchayat is very strong and capable,” said another villager, Sahdeo Mahato. 

The local deputy superintendent of police, Shaharyar Akhtar, said he could not confirm the village's claim of not filing any case in the last century until he checked the police records, but he described as praiseworthy the villagers’ commitment to resolving disputes peacefully.  

Ironically, the villagers claim that the peace that prevails in the village, has virtually blocked development work at Padia, where basic facilities like metalled road and power are a far cry. Their logic is that no official bothers to visit the village unless there is some serious problems there.

The local block development officer Ravi Kumar Sinha, however, said welfare measures would be taken up for the village as a "reward" for maintaining pace.

Uneasy truce scuppers Bihar meeting

http://thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=414612&catid=36

Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

Though the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, coalition partners in Bihar's ruling National Democratic Alliance government, have agreed on a “ceasefire”, things are not normal yet. It became clear today when the chief minister, Nitish Kumar, deferred a monthly meeting with the leaders and workers of both the parties without citing any reason.

Since returning to power with a historic three-fourths majority after the October-November 2010 Assembly elections, Mr Kumar has met BJP and JD-U workers on the last Monday of each month to obtain feedback about the government's functioning, know their problems, offer suggestions about taking official programmes to the people and to plan responses to the Opposition’s aggressive strategies. Now, it is for the first time in two years that the meeting has not been held, despite Mr Kumar being in Patna. This is described by many as the fall-out of the strained relations between the two parties.

According to sources, problems cropped up after Mr Kumar's comments on a secular NDA Prime Minister, made to the media rather than at a political forum. Although the JD-U president, Sharad Yadav, issued a gag order to his partymen and the Bihar chief minister subsequently directed all his party spokespersons not to say anything against the BJP to the media without consulting him or senior party leaders, BJP leaders chose to be cold to Mr Kumar.

The state JD-U chief, Vashishtha Narayan Singh, told the media  the meeting had been put off as the venue was being renovated. The state BJP chief, CP Thakur, said the cancellation might have resulted from the chief minister's pressing engagements.

Word, though, is there were apprehensions angry BJP supporters might shout pro-Narendra Modi slogans if a meeting were held. That would have been a repeat performance of the Friday protest at Raj Bhavan against price rise.

Nitish's attack on Modi ploy to dump NDA?

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=414184&catid=36 

Manoj Chaurasia / The Statesman

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s frontal attack on the hard-line Hindutva forces slowly taking centre-stage within the BJP has triggered political upheavals with both the ruling partners, the JD-U and BJP, in the NDA government engaged in bitter verbal duels. 

The moot question now is if Nitish's reaction was spontaneous or is it part of JD-U’s larger game-plan to dump NDA and switch over to the UPA as and when situation warranted? Nitish has set four conditions before the BJP in exchange for JD-U’s continuation in the NDA. The conditions, among others, are that NDA’s prime ministerial candidate should have “secular credentials” and “must have a feeling for backward states like Bihar”.

Although the JD-U denies, a series of developments over the past week point towards the fact that Nitish's  party is eagerly waiting in the wings to switch sides. The way the JD-U chose to lend its support for UPA’s presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee in sharp contrast to BJP which has lent its weight behind PA Sangma lends credence to the belief. 

That the JD-U had already made up its mind to back the candidature of Mukherjee had become clear early this week when Nitish, during an interaction with the media persons on Monday, had sought for a consensus on presidential nominee saying “We have good relations with Pranab Babu although we don’t have bad terms with Sangamaji eitherl”. 

Significantly, Nitish, as media reports said, did not entertain the phone call made to him by BJP-backed Sanagama on Monday while he has gone on record claiming both the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mukherjee had called him up seeking his support.

Though nobody in the JD-U would agree, political circles in Patna are agog with the story that Nitish has entered into some sort of a “deal” with the Congress in exchange for lending his party support.

The “timing” of Nitish's attack on the BJP gives enough hints about something cooking up between JD-U and the Congress. See the sequence of events: On June 14, the chief minister holds a meeting of senior party leaders at his official residence in Patna at which he announces the party decision to hold massive rallies simultaneously at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and New Delhi’s Ramlila Ground. 

A day later on June 15, Congress President Sonia Gandhi declares the name of UPA presidential nominee. 

Shortly thereafter, both the Prime Minister and Union Finance Minister call up the Bihar chief minister, seeking his support for presidential polls.

What transpires between Nitish and two top ministers in the UPA government is not known but shortly thereafter, on June 16, Nitish shots off a letter to the Prime Minister, requesting him to constitute an “expert committee” to look into JD-U’s demand for granting Bihar special status category. 

A day later on June 18, the chief minister demanded a consensus within the NDA on Presidential nominee stating that he was not in favour of election for the post, giving wide hints that he will be going against BJP's decision.

It was not the first time that Nitish was found having “soft corner” for the Congress. Shortly before the results of 2009 LS elections were to be declared, the CM had again announced, from a public meeting held in Hotel Maurya, to lend his party support to any party which promises to give Bihar special status category, apparently hoping that the Congress will not be able to form government on its own and will require support of parties outside UPA for government formation. 

The Congress was very quick to welcome Nitish’s move. But his plan to switch sides did not materialise later as the UPA itself mustered enough seats to form government on its own. 

Now, Nitish apparently feels the time is ripe to be a 'fence-sitter' so that he is able to change side as per his convenience depending on which one political formulation, the NDA or the UPA, is close to forming government after 2014  general elections. After all, it is really very difficult to be in the Opposition, isn't it?