NEW DELHI: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s expected resignation as a member of the legislative council on Monday will set the stage for the emergence of a new era in the state as BJP is likely to take the driver’s seat for the first time in the govt’s affairs after playing second fiddle to him since 2005 when he led NDA to its maiden victory.Nitish was elected to Rajya Sabha on March 16 and the 14-day period during which he has to quit membership of one of legislatures ends Monday. NDA sources said he is likely to quit as CM after taking oath as a member of RS, where his tenure begins from April 10, but political activities for the formation of a govt under a new CM are bound to pick up from Monday. On record, there is no statement from either BJP or JDU on which party will get to keep the top chair, but senior functionaries of both parties have suggested that a BJP nominee will replace Nitish (75). Roles of the two parties will be reversed, with JDU getting the position of deputy chief minister. While Nitish’s son Nishant – who has been hurriedly put through the paces of politics after living a private life all these years to reassure the JDU cadre, feeling anxious at the prospect of their leader’s imminent departure as chief minister – is being seen as a deputy chief minister, there may be more than one person in the position. Samrat Choudhary, one of the two current deputy CMs and the leader of BJP legislature party, is being seen as a front-runner to replace Nitish for reasons having as much to do with his rapid rise within the party since joining it in 2017 as with his emergence as a leading face of Kushwahas, which at over 4.27% of population is second only to Yadavs at over 14.25%. With Yadavs and Kurmis, the third-most numerous backward caste, having had chief ministers from their community since OBCs became the driving force of political churn from 1990, Kushwahas or Koeris have long believed that it is now their turn at the top, a sentiment BJP has tapped by building up the profile of Choudhary, who moved through various parties before arriving in BJP. As a backward face is seen as a natural choice in the state’s OBC-dominated politics, Union minister Nityanand Rai, a dyed-in-the-wool BJP member who too has gro-wn in stature over the years, is also seen as another option. That he is a Yadav, a community aligned to RJD, may not serve him well but, to his supporters, his elevation could be an opportunity for BJP to make fresh overtures to the numerically-powerful caste. With the BJP leadership known for unconventional picks, speculation is likely to intensify till an announcement is made.
