Presidential race: Nitish puts Opposition unity on shaky ground as he seems to lean towards Kovind

Despite his strong pitch for Opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday appeared to be wavering on the matter of voting against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s presidential nominee, Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind.

Though he has announced that his Janata Dal (United) and other Opposition parties will jointly finalise their strategy for the presidential election at a meeting on June 22, Kumar spoke in private to senior leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the Left to try to convince them of the necessity of evolving a consensus over the BJP’s choice.

Kumar’s predicament is said to be caused by the fact that though Kovind hails from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the caste he belongs to is part of the Mahadalit, the poorest Dalits whom the Janata Dal (United) leader has made the centre of his politics in Bihar.

“Soon after the BJP announced its presidential nominee, Nitish talked to [Rashtriya Janata Dal chief] Lalu Prasad and tried to convince him the necessity of supporting Kovind because he belongs to a Mahadalit caste,” said a senior Janata Dal (United) leader considered close to the Bihar chief minister.

However, Prasad refused to budge from his position and told Kumar that Kovind’s Dalit origins must not cloud the fact that he represents the philosophy of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and is not a neutral person who will protect the Constitutional scheme of things, the Janata Dal (United) leader said.

Congress officials also confirmed that Kumar appeared anxious not to be seen contesting against a “Mahadalit candidate” in his telephone conversations with party president Sonia Gandhi as well as some other senior leaders.

A similar conversation with the Bihar chief minster was reported by some Left leaders too.

Leaders still hopeful

Though Kumar’s Mahadalit arguments have jolted Opposition leaders, they still believe that the Bihar chief minister will not go to the extent of joining hands with the BJP and support Kovind.

So far, the Bihar chief minister has publicly refused to commit any support to the BJP’s candidate. “It will not be fair to answer this question [of committing support] as discussions will soon take place among Opposition leaders on the issue of a candidate for the President’s post,” he reportedly said in Patna.

However, Kumar expressed “happiness” over the BJP’s decision to nominate Kovind as its presidential candidate. “In my capacity as the Bihar Chief Minister, it is a matter of happiness that our Governor has been declared as the candidate for the next President of India,” he said.

Kumar’s position on the matter may not just affect the presidential election but could also have a great bearing on the next Lok Sabha election as Opposition parties hope that they can stitch together a grand secular alliance to take on the BJP in 2019.