Why Nitish-Lalu-Manjhi bonding over iftar must be troubling for BJP
Iftar parties hosted by the politicians during the holy month of Ramzan are never apolitical in nature in Bihar.
Every year, senior leaders right from chief minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad to Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi throw iftar parties not only for the faithful, but also for their political friends and foes to take stock of the emerging situations.
This year's iftar season has been no different.
It saw Lalu making a clever move to bring about a rapprochement between Nitish and his one-time protégée Jitan Ram Manjhi, which caused enough ripples in the political circles.
The RJD president attended Manjhi's iftar along with his minister-son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav the other day and talked about his old association with the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) founder.
Manjhi reciprocated the gesture two days later by attending the RJD's iftar where he came face to face with Nitish who had ousted him as the chief minister over controversial remarks in February last year.
They had not been on talking terms since then, but Lalu's bash helped them thaw their frosty relations to a great extent.
Lalu played the perfect peacemaker by making Manjhi sit between Nitish and him to ease the palpable tension between them.
Manjhi has been firing salvos at the Grand Alliance leaders since then but the latest gesture of Lalu to bring him face to face with Nitish at an informal gathering is being seen in the political circles as his well-thought-out to pave the way for the Mahadalit leader's return to the "secular front".
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| Lalu has been on the lookout for a Dalit leader to fill the void. Manjhi apparently fits in his scheme of things. |
Lalu has been trying to unite all anti-BJP parties on a common platform. Even though Manjhi's outfit had performed disastrously in the Assembly polls last year, he cannot be considered to be a spent force given his new-found popularity among the Dalits in Bihar.
Lalu has been on the lookout for a Dalit leader to fill the void. Manjhi apparently fits in his scheme of things. After Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan broke off his ties with the RJD and joined the NDA, Lalu has been on the lookout for a Dalit leader to fill the void. Manjhi apparently fits in his scheme of things.
Though the Janata Dal (United) has ruled out the possibility of Manjhi's return to the party saying he had stabbed Nitish in the back after being selected as the chief minister, the Mahadalit leader feels that when Lalu and Nitish can mend fences despite years of bitter relations, anything is possible in his case.
He also acknowledges Nitish's greatness in making him the chief minister in the same breath.
As an ally, Manjhi may not have been able to win more than one seat for the NDA in the last Assembly polls but he had turned a sizeable section of Mahadalit voters against the Grand Alliance.
Moreover, he remains one of the few NDA leaders from the state who has the requisite experience to take on Lalu and Nitish with remarkable gusto and chutzpah. It would, therefore, not be judicious to write him off on the basis of his party's performance in one election.
The HAM president had managed to carve out a niche for him as a formidable Mahadalit leader during his nine-month-long tenure.
It is probably this realisation that Lalu has sought to build bridges with Manjhi and left the door of the Grand Alliance ajar for his return.
The BJP needs to keep a close watch on the growing bonhomie between Lalu and Manjhi.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)