Patna,(BiharTimes): It is introspection time for politicians, who are anxiously waiting for the election results to come on May 16.

Perhaps the biggest self-examination in Bihar is going on in the Janata Dal (United), which, according to surveys, is not expected to do well.

Whatever chief minister Nitish Kumar may now say the truth is that his party virtually became the B-team of the BJP during the heydays of the National Democratic Alliance government in the state. He started playing part in the internal squabbling within the saffron party. From hindsight it can be said that he has to pay a heavy price for this move.

The trouble for Nitish actually started after 2010, when he started associating himself with the day to day politics within the BJP. By 2011 the situation reached to such a pass that, of all the persons, it was Nitish, who flagged off the Jan Chetna Rath of the BJP patriarch, Lal Krishna Advani, from Shitab Diara on October 11, the birthday of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan.

Advani was cornered by those who were championing the cause of Narendra Modi then. Though NaMo was till then not officially declared as the party’s prime ministerial candidate efforts were on by a powerful section of the party to project him as the leader.

Advani was, however, then backed by Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha etc.

But instead of these BJP bigwigs it was Nitish, who went all the way to publicly back Advani. He left no opportunity whatsoever to denounce Narendra Modi.

The Jan Chetna Rath was the last concerted effort by Advani to muster support for him. Those were the days when the deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was extremely close to Nitish Kumar. He even went on to say that Nitish Kumar is a prime ministerial material.

It was a calculated move of SuMo, who himself was not in the camp of NaMo.

Political observers are of the view that Nitish thought that NaMo faction would be marginalized if the Janata Dal (United), then the most reliable of the three other constituents of the BJP, would throw its weight behind the Advani faction.

But that was not to be. NaMo was not only the choice of a strong section of the Sangh Parivar, but also of the corporate houses and the media. By 2013 Advani and Company had to virtually concede defeat and accept that Narendra Modi is the most suitable candidate of the BJP for the post of prime minister. All of them started singing a different tune now.

But as Nitish had travelled too far ahead in his condemnation of Narendra Modi he could not return. There was no scope for the Janata Dal (United) to comeback to the old position. So he took a gamble and on June 16 last year broke his ties with the BJP.

Now he had to speak against the same BJP leaders whom he was supporting till lately. In return the same SuMo started attacking him. Now for the same man the Nitish government is one of the worst in the country. Nitish was accused of being soft on terrorism.

Bihar watchers feel that there was absolutely no need for Nitish to interfere in the internal affairs of the BJP, which is a much resourceful party with an all-India presence. Unlike JD(U) it has a host of leaders and the party was more prepared to overcome crisis like the one which emerged after the open opposition by Advani.