Bihar Assembly polls: Lack of unanimity on CM face may increase rift in opposition camp

NEW DELHI: As speculation builds on whether or not the ‘mahagathbandhan’ formally names Rashtriya Janata Dal neta Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, a strong view within the governing NDA is that it is on a firm footing to tackle the issue that has sharpened divisions in the opposition camp.In case of declaration of the RJD’s de facto leader as the CM choice of the alliance, which includes Congress, the Left and Vikassheel Insaan Party, its core support base, especially Yadavs, is bound to enthusiastically rally around his leadership.Several NDA functionaries are of the view that it will also allow them to ramp up their pitch of ‘jungle raaj’, a charge they have long levelled against the 15-year combined governance of his father Lalu Prasad Yadav and mother Rabri Devi between 1990 and 2005, with considerable electoral gains at successive hustings.As the charge of dominance by Yadavs, the most populous caste at over 14.2%, stuck, a large section of non-Yadav other backward classes and extremely backward classes besides Scheduled Castes steadily drifted away from RJD, leading to its string of electoral defeats.Chief minister Nitish Kumar successfully tapped into the resentment of these castes and emerged as the champion of their interests, and, in alliance with BJP, is hoping to repeat the success of weaving a winning social coalition.

A lack of unanimity in the opposition alliance on Tejashwi as its leader in the polls, which has been the case so far, will accentuate differences among allies, who have so far failed to kick-start their campaign after being unable to arrive at a consensus over a seat-sharing arrangement.Congress has rushed its seasoned neta Ashok Gehlot to Patna to hold meetings with RJD top brass and other allies to sort out their differences.Tejashwi said Wednesday that alliance netas will hold a press conference Thursday, as he insisted there were no differences among them.The biggest question remains whether Congress comes around and agrees to his projection as the alliance’s CM pick. Congress has so far been lukewarm to the idea, even though he is being seen as an obvious choice in case of its poll victory.RJD is of the view that Tejashwi’s tenure as deputy CM has earned him goodwill, and his youthful candidature against Nitish’s “tired” persona will boost the alliance’s prospects. The framing of charges against Tejashwi and his parents by a court in a corruption case pertaining to the tenure of Lalu as railway minister will also come in handy for the NDA in case of his elevation.