Who is the real boss?: confusion reigns among Bihar’s ruling Mahagathbandhan, bureaucracy

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, of late, has been projecting his Deputy in the Cabinet and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as his successor

With Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, of late, projecting his Deputy in the Cabinet and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav as his successor under whose leadership the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) would contest the next Assembly elections in 2025, there appears to be confusion among the ruling party leaders and the State bureaucracy as who is the real boss or whom they should display their loyalty to: Mr. Kumar or Mr. Yadav.

Recently, when presspersons asked Mr. Kumar during his ongoing Samadhan Yatra (solution journey) over speculation on the Cabinet expansion, Mr. Kumar’s reply was, “ask the Deputy CM [Mr. Yadav]. When they [Mr. Yadav’s party RJD] decided, it will take place”. Numerically the third important ally of the Mahagathbandhan, the Congress had earlier demanded that two more of its party leaders be inducted into the Cabinet. In the 243-member Assembly, the Congress has 19 MLAs after the RJD’s 79 and the Janata Dal (United)’s 45. In the current Cabinet, two Congress legislators — Afaque Alam and Murari Prasad Gautam — are the Ministers.

“A delegation of Congress leaders recently met me in this regard and I told them to meet the Deputy CM. Let them finalise it among themselves and whatever they decide will be considered”, Mr. Kumar told presspersons on February 11 in Jamui district. The Bihar Cabinet can have a maximum of 36 Ministers and five of them are currently lying vacant. However, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself had agreed to our demand for at least four Ministers from our party into the Cabinet”.

While seeking anonymity, a senior Congress leader told The Hindu on phone, “the Chief Minister, it seems, has now thrown the ball into the RJD’s court. These days it is very difficult to make out who is, in fact, the real boss, the real CM. The Chief Minister himself has often been saying in public that the Mahagathbandhan will be led by Tejashwi Yadav in the coming 2025 Assembly poll”.

Earlier too, Mr. Kumar in an event had said “ ab inko aage badhana hai [now, we have to push him forward]”, while looking at Mr. Yadav, who was present on the occasion. Mr. Yadav, though, had flashed an expensive smile on his face. But, the Chief Minister’s statement had triggered confusion among the ruling Mahagathbandhan leaders. Parliamentary Board chairman of the JD(U), Upendra Kushwaha, asked Mr. Kumar to make it public “what deal he has struck with the RJD?”. Mr. Kushwaha told The Hindu if Tejashwi becomes Chief Minister “he will ruin Bihar the way his father Lalu Prasad did”. He has raised a banner of rebellion against his party leadership and said the “JD(U) was weakening an he has to strengthen it”.

Similarly, in the State bureaucracy, senior officials too are said to be in confusion over whose directions to be obeyed. “It becomes very difficult for bureaucracy to function when two power centers emerge in a State. Bihar today faces similar situation”, a senior secretary rank officer said over phone. “For bureaucrats , it is like the previous Mahagathbandhan government when officials had started getting calls of command from two different power centers. This time the situation has become more complex for us. I do not hesitate in saying that there are two CMs in the State today”, another bureaucrat in the rank of Additional Chief Secretary said. “The lower rung officers too get unnecessary calls of demand from two different power centres”, said a young government employee posted at the State secretariat.