‘BJP’s use and throw’: Opposition leader on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s move to Rajya Sabha

Nitish Kumar’s social media post on Thursday announcing that he would give up the chief ministership of Bihar to become a Rajya Sabha member made Dipankar Bhattacharya guffaw in disbelief.

Over the last three or so decades, Kumar and Bhattacharya have come together, parted ways, then allied again only to become sworn enemies soon after – largely because of the flip-flops that have defined Kumar’s politics.

Bhattacharya, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, has in recent years emerged as one of Kumar’s most strident critics. But such an exit for the man just four months after he led the National Democratic Alliance to a handsome victory in the state elections defies logic, Bhattacharya said.

After all, the National Democratic Alliance won 202 out of Bihar’s 243 seats in November. Key members of the alliance are Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Mahagathbandhan, of which the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation is a part, managed to win only 35 seats.

Bhattacharya went so far as to suggest that the ten-term chief minister had been “blackmailed” into submission by his longstanding ally, the BJP. More importantly, however, he argued that the development seemed to ignore the election verdict.

“Why play this game with the people of Bihar?” Bhattacharya asked rhetorically when Scroll met him in his party’s office in East Delhi.

Edited excerpts from the conversation:

You have been very critical of Nitish Kumar for his flip-flops. How do you see what he has done today?
He used to switch sides on his own before, but he has been made to flip this time. Just take a look at the post that was put up in his name. He who has been chief minister of Bihar for 20 years is now saying that it was his life’s dream to become a Rajya Sabha MP. [Laughs]

What do you mean by “the post that was put up in his name”?
It is obvious. It was posted from his account, but I don’t believe he posted it. What can be more insulting than this for a leader? This is so embarrassing.

Anyway, for us the concern is that we just had an election in which the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] sought votes in the name of Nitish Kumar and got them. They are now toying with that mandate.

The BJP always wanted full control of Bihar. I don’t know what Nitish Kumar wants. I am hearing his son [Nishant Kumar] may enter politics.

For all these years, Nitish Kumar has said that he is opposed to dynastic politics. This will wipe out all the credibility he has earned.

Why do you say that moving to the Rajya Sabha would be embarrassing for Nitish Kumar?
What kind of an exit policy is this for a chief minister? One can understand why such an exit policy might work for a chief justice of India like Ranjan Gogoi. But this sort of a golden handshake for somebody who has been the chief minister for two decades?

Why do you suspect that this is not what he wants? Does it go against the Nitish Kumar that you have known since 1995?
He has done so much acrobatics since then. It is very difficult to read his mind. But I just don’t find it acceptable that somebody who is at the pinnacle of his political career will do this.

Unless there is something where he is being forced or blackmailed. I don’t know if there is something that the BJP is using to control him – corruption or something.

You had said during the election that something like this could happen.
In the run-up to the election, you must have seen the way Nitish Kumar was behaving. It was almost like he had lost all his self-respect. Back then, people gave him the benefit of doubt that maybe he is not in full control of himself. But it was very clear that the BJP would do this.

This is the BJP’s track record of use and throw. So they have used him and now there is little use left.

Many people are of the opinion that the BJP should have the chief ministership because it is the largest party. Do you buy that reasoning?
Then BJP could have very well gone to the election saying that they want to do this. Why play this game with the people of Bihar? They projected his face not just in the 2025 Assembly elections, but also in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. If they had gone to the Lok Sabha elections without Nitish Kumar, there would not have been Modi 3.0.

Do you really believe that?
Of course. If Uttar Pradesh gave you that kind of result in 2024, what would have been the result in Bihar had Nitish Kumar been in the [Opposition] INDIA coalition?

In that case, not retaining him is the failure of the INDIA bloc, right?
It is not the Indian Premier League, where you are retaining a player. As a political strategist, he made his own calculation. If he had stayed with us, he would definitely not have ended up in the Rajya Sabha.

Are you saying the BJP needed him for votes so it used him?
They have used him and now they feel saturated. They think they have reached a point where they can afford to do this so they are doing it.

But when you put it like that, you make it sound like Nitish Kumar has no agency. Is he being played?
I think he has reached such a position now. This does not behove Nitish Kumar in any way. Why would anybody in their senses agree to this?

What does this mean for the politics of Bihar, a state where you have a significant presence?
It brings more clarity to the politics of Bihar. We knew that it was no longer Nitish Kumar at the helm. But now the shield is off.

Would that mean that space for the Opposition in Bihar will open up a bit?
It should, it should. Even for some kind of realignment within JD(U) and in the social justice camp on the whole. This is a classic kind of BJP takeover. This is regime change. I don’t see JD(U) people, who are part of the old Lohiaite legacy, just accepting it lying down.

Do you feel vindicated or disappointed seeing what has happened today?
Not vindicated because everybody in Bihar knew that this is how the BJP is using Nitish Kumar. But they probably thought that it would give him a slightly more dignified exit than this embarrassing, ignominious one. This is saying, “We don’t really care.” This is the way [Donald] Trump uses people. Trumpian bluntness.

Are you also disappointed, given that this is somebody you have worked with?
No, not really. This is what he did. You reap what you sow. Nitish Kumar has been the longest-serving ally of the BJP in the Hindi belt.

He extended a hand of cooperation to them way back in the mid-1990s, when a lot of parties would not touch the BJP with a barge pole. Nitish Kumar went out of his way to do this.

Before he did that, though, he allied with you back in 1995.
Yes, but then he was in a hurry. He wanted power. He brought this upon himself.

He has given up the chief ministership before, too [in 2014-’15]. Later, people voted him back to power.
I don’t know. Time is also running out. You cannot go on repeating the same thing. He could have cited ill health as his reason for stepping down. That would be more dignified. Are people really expected to understand that this is somebody who still sees a role for himself in the Rajya Sabha?

Will you be protesting against this?
We have said that this is a mockery of the mandate. It is a betrayal. Beyond the power games and the political chess, this is a compact you had with the people of Bihar.

You projected Nitish Kumar for yet another term as chief minister and people gave you that kind of a mandate. And then you find this way of dumping him in the Rajya Sabha. This is definitely taking Bihar for granted. You have taken Bihar for a ride.

Will Bihar accept this?
There is obviously a lot of disquiet. It won’t be easy. They will ram it down the throat of Bihar. Let us see how it happens.

Bihar is such a state where struggle is your mode of existence. You won’t survive without that. That is what people call rebellion. It is the courage to fight when people think it does not make sense to fight. Bihar will have to fight. What is the other way out?