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The election of 44-year old Member of Legislative Council Mangal Pandey as BJP state president has raised fears that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is conspiring to split the BJP. Pandey’s win is a victory for deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi who has been criticised for pushing Nitish’s political agenda rather than that of his own party. Sources in Patna said that former state BJP chief C P Thakur had wanted to contest, but was dissuaded by Modi. Thakur, and ministers Giriraj Singh and Ashwini Choubey, are outspoken critics of the chief minister and support Narendra Modi. |
With Pandey’s elevation, Sushil Modi, who comes from the trader community which has traditionally supported the BJP, has managed to neutralize the Bhumihar and Brahmin leaders in the party. Both Thakur and Giriraj Singh are Bhumihars, while Choubey is a Brahmin. By getting Pandey, a Brahmin from Siwan elected, Modi has silenced his Brahmin critics. Since Bhumihars provide muscle power to the BJP—especially to take on the RJD in rural areas—the BJP cannot afford to lose them. Pandey, 44, hails from Siwan, but has spent most of his time in Patna from where Modi has contested Assembly polls. Pandey was a general secretary of the state BJP before his elevation as state party chief. Two senior central BJP leaders—both consider themselves Prime Ministerial contenders and enjoy an excellent rapport with Nitish—canvassed for Pandey, even as the local RSS stayed unenthusiastic.
It was but a formality when Bihar “Prabaharis” (party-in charges) Ananth Kumar and Dharmendra Pradhan visited Patna to formally support Pandey. As a sop, the central leadership made several offers to the 81-year old CP Thakur—a national BJP vice presidentship as well as a Rajya Sabha seat plus accommodation of his son in the state’s Legislative Council.
The irony of Bihar politics is that though both the Modis—Narendra and Sushil— have an RSS background, they are opposed to one other. Thakur is one of the biggest supporters of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar. He has stated that the BJP would contest all of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 general elections, embarrassing many central leaders. “BJP was always considered a cadre-based party. But it is now like other regional parties, where one man controls both the government and the party, and the party president cannot afford to veto his political decisions. Its the same in the Bihar BJP. The era of seasoned party leaders is over,” said a senior BJP leader.
Sidelining C P Thakur was not an easy task for Sushil Modi. JD(U) sources say that BJP’s state leadership is keen to continue the alliance with Nitish at any cost. Dissident leaders were virtually forced to accept party collective decision. Now, the current leadership of the BJP is dependent on Nitish’s charisma for the next polls.
Published in The Sunday Standard
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