Caucus holds up Nishant’s take over of JDU

After much hullabaloo over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son joining politics and taking over the command of the Janata Dal United JDU) and the state government, silence has descended on it.

In march, Holi was organised at the official bungalow of the chief minister this year after a gap of nine years to provide a platform for Nishant Kumar to interact with top party leaders and give the message that the son will very soon slip into the shoes of the father.

It was reported that the party workers first met Nishant and the latter smeared gulal on them, then the chief minister.

But the party is faced with a piquant situation: its core supporters among the 36 percent Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) do not see any alternative to Nitish Kumar, while the party's caucus that has entrenched itself around chief minister Nitish Kumar do not want his son Nishant to enter politics and take the command of the party.

They have started a smear campaign against Nishant that he is unfit for politics as he is a non- serious person.

Party's foot soldiers over who will take the party's reins if Nitish Kumar becomes the shadow of his former self to lead it from the front, then who will take the baton?

The chief minister’s public demeanours have set the tongues wagging: Nitish suffers from cognitive problems. But nothing can be said with certainty without experts’ opinions.

Though claims have been made in the past by the party leaders and his son that Nitish is fit to lead the party in the next election. Also, nothing has been so far told officially, but his body language and the difficulty he finds himself in choosing words while addressing public meetings give a quite contrary picture.

People can be heard at public places and in private conversations that Nitish health is failing him.

On several occasions in recent times, the leaders sitting on the dais wore tense looks when Nitish started addressing people over the probability of embarrassing slip ups.

Likewise, his body language also on several occasions left the party embarrassed and invited people guffaws.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have observed it as well when they together had the opportunity to come together at public meetings.

On one or two occasions, Nitish touched Modi's feet or tried to do so. Whenever they sat separately on the dais, Modi looked seated in an attentive mood, hoping to last the occasion without any slips on the part of the chief minister.

For a long time, Nitish has not been interacting with the media or is being kept away from it by the clique surrounding him.

An impregnable cover of ministers and bureaucrats follows him wherever he goes to keep him at arm’s length from the media to rule any possibility of reporters putting questions to him and finding the actual state of affairs.

This cover never leaves him alone at public places. It remains present and alert at all the functions he attends. Of course, the faces comprising this cover keep on changing

When a few months back talks were doing the rounds that Nishant will join active politics, Nitish cabinet minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary parried a direct answer when he was asked about Nishant succeeding Nitish, saying nobody else will take a decision on it except Nitish Kumar.

Nishant will turn 50 on July 20. Nitish was also about the same age when he became chief minister for the first time in 2000 for seven days.

 Nitish Kumar travelled long distances before he was anointed as chief minister of Bihar. But his supporters want his son to take the reins of the state without any delay.

But there are many hurdles in his way. Though supporters want to see him seated on the chair, Nitish's own stand on sons succeeding fathers in politics defies it.

If Nishant is gifted the chair without going through the rough and tumble of politics, it will tarnish the image of the father because he is known as a staunch anti-dynast. 

Prime minister Modi also once showered praises on the chief minister for giving no quarters to his family in politics. So, he is also expected to not to take it to his liking.

Whether the JDU will go the way of Lalu Prasad, Jitam Ram Manjhi and the late Ram Vilas Paswan who transferred to their respective scions their political empires or strike a new path to uphold internal democracy in the party or Nitish will continue to lead the party in the upcoming poll campaign and choose his son as his successor thereafter is a question which is likely to get an answer before or after  the next Assembly election.