Troubled Nitish sets off on Samadhan Yatra – his 13th walkathon since 2005

By Ajay Kumar

Patna, Jan 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Politics in Bihar is currently centered around yatras. At present, three yatras are underway in the state including two that kicked off on January 5.

In Bihar, Nitish Kumar's Samadhan Yatra is the centre of attraction, not because he is the chief minister of the state but because he is feeling the heat of the political situation there.

Political pundits believe that when things are not going according to the wishes of Nitish Kumar, he will opt for yatra politics, check the pulse of the people and bounce back in politics with a bang.

After the formation of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, he met several leaders of the opposition parties in the country. The probable idea was to project himself as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Nitish Kumar did not get the expected response at that time.

The biggest setback was the meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi with the former not giving a proper response. Nitish Kumar met Sonia Gandhi in the presence of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav but the photograph of that meeting did not appear in the public domain.

In Bihar, leaders of the RJD applied pressure on Nitish Kumar to hand over the post of chief minister to Tejashwi Yadav.

On September 22, 2022, Shivanand Tiwari, the national vice president of the RJD, suggested that Nitish Kumar open an ashram after the 2025 Bihar assembly poll and hand over charge to Tejashwi Yadav.

The BJP immediately jumped into the fray and suggested to Nitish Kumar to retire from politics. JD-U parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha retaliated and said that Nitish Kumar has the support of the people and he need not open an ashram.

That statement was an indication that internal political relations between the JD-U and the RJD are not smooth. Then Sudhakar Singh, while he was the agriculture minister of the state, pointed out the massive corruption in his department. He claimed that all officers and babus are thieves and he was the king of thieves.

Following his statement, Nitish Kumar, who claimed zero corruption in his government, faced an awkward situation. Under pressure from Nitish Kumar, Sudhakar Singh was forced to resign. He sent the resignation letter to Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav instead of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The recent comments by Sudhakar Singh like 'nightwatchman' and 'beggar' created outrage among the JD-U leaders. Upendra Kushwaha strongly asked Tejashwi Yadav to control his legislators or it would be a threat for the coalition and for him as well.

Meanwhile, Shivanand Tiwari asked Nitish Kumar to postpone the Samadhan Yatra due to the severe cold weather in Bihar.

"Being an old friend, I suggested to Nitish Kumar to postpone the Samadhan Yatra due to the cold weather," Tiwari said. "He is the chief minister of the state. Wherever he goes, the entire government machinery will go with him. This is not an ideal atmosphere for him to do a yatra in Bihar. My statement has no political meaning and it is not politically motivated. I had said that he will go to an ashram after the 2025 assembly election."

A prominent political observer told IANS that it is a crisis situation for Nitish Kumar in Bihar. "Every time Nitish Kumar feels political uneasiness, he goes on a yatra to get the support of the people. Nitish Kumar, through his yatras, always diverted the attention of the people in the past and he is doing the same this time too. Though this time, his Samadhan Yatra is different from his previous yatras simply because there is no public meeting," he said.

He added: "After the formation of a grand alliance government in Bihar, Nitish Kumar had national ambitions but things didn't go his way. He is the leader of a party which is losing political ground in Bihar. When you look at the political position of the JD-U, it had fewer seats than the RJD in 2015 and could reach only the third position in the 2020 assembly poll."

"His party also lost the recent Kurhani by-poll in Bihar. He may be the chief minister of a state but not because of his own strength. Hence, it is extremely difficult for him to project himself as a prime ministerial candidate of the opposition parties in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll."

Referring to Nitish Kumar's national ambitions, the political observer said: "Why would a leader like Mamata Benerjee who is continuously giving an impressive performance in West Bengal and forming the government there on her own support him. Arvind Kejriwal or K Chandrashekher Rao have a similar status. Even Hemant Soren and Akhilesh Yadav have a better relationship with the RJD than the JD-U. After the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress will never cede any space to him."

"Above all, RJD leaders like Shivanand Tiwari, Sudhakar Singh and others are targeting Nitish Kumar. Sudhakar Singh in particular, used unparliamentary language against him but the party has not taken any disciplinary action against him. Tejashwi Yadav was declaring him a BJP agent. Overall, the situation is not good for Nitish Kumar. Hence, he has no other choice other than going on a yatra."

He concluded by noting: "Nitish Kumar knew his party's political position in Bihar. Moreover, there is a hint of a trust deficit due to his 'paltimar' attitude."

Nitish Kumar went on the first yatra on July 12, 2005 and the people of Bihar gave him a mandate to rule the state. He did a second yatra to thank the people of Bihar. On January 9, 2009, Nitish Kumar did the Vikas Yatra just before the Lok Sabha poll and his party got good representation in parliament.

He did another yatra just before the 2010 Vidhan Sabha election and his party got 115 assembly seats. In 2011, he went for a Sewa Yatra. On September 19, 2012, he went for Adhikar Yatra to demand "special status" for Bihar. Nitish Kumar did the Sankalp Yatra just before the 2014 Lok Sabha election but did not get the expected result as his party got only two seats.

In 2015, he went for a Nischay Yatra to highlight the Saat Nishchay Programme. On December 3, 2019, he started the Jan Jiwan Hariyali Yatra and on December 22, 2021, he went for the Samaj Sudhar Yatra.

Nikhil Anand, the national general secretary of the BJP's OBC wing and spokesperson, told IANS: "Nitish Kumar has reached the end of his political career. He is feeling the heat applied by the RJD to step down from the post and hand over to Tejashwi Yadav. Nitish Kumar, through the Samadhan Yatra, is wanting to ease the pressure he is facing at the moment."

"He wants to get support from the common people of Bihar but the way he is maintaining a distance from the common people, I doubt he will achieve it. The CTET, BTET, BPSC, BSSC aspirants are demanding jobs. The police is lathicharging them and he is unaware of it. This is an extremely bizarre kind of situation in Bihar."

Abhishek Jha, JD-U spokesperson, told IANS: "Nitish Kumar is not feeling any pressure from any political party or leader. He is doing the Samadhan Yatra to review various projects. He is also meeting the common people and taking their feedback. There is no public rally scheduled during his yatra."

Source: IANS