Modi, Not Nitish: Patna University Centenary Celebrations Show Who is the Star of JD(U)-BJP Alliance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his “commendable commitment to progress in Bihar” but the manner in which the Patna University centenary celebrations was conceptualised and carried out, clearly shows who is the star of the ruling coalition of the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar. It is Modi and not Nitish, which is also an indication of the days to come when the BJP may ask Nitish to play second fiddle to the saffron party.

Patna today is studded with huge hoardings, featuring the prime minister and a melange of other BJP leaders - including party president Amit Shah, senior union minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. But the CM found no place in the hoardings and the music video-type effects that radiated out of the many iterations of the PM from a central image.

Nitish on Saturday shared the stage with Modi for the first time since JD(U)’s exit from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.

Though the BJP leaders NewsClick spoke to, rejected the allegations that it was a deliberate attempt to show Nitish his place, who severed alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in July to form a new government with the BJP.

“These talks are nothing but propaganda. These are not party posters. It has been put up by individuals,” said Bihar BJP President Nityanand Rai.

The JD(U) also tried to dismiss the allegation saying that “the Centre always gives the chief minister his due importance and not featuring on publicity material does not mean our leader has been overshadowed”. However, party sources said it was “unexpected” from the BJP to “ignore a chief minister in his own state”.

The absence of the chief minister from hoardings and posters has given rivals and JD(U)-BJP rebels a chance to claim that Nitish has been reduced to a bit player by the saffron party.

“The BJP has shown him (Nitish) his place. He has been given a message that ‘sab humara hi hai, aapka kya hai (everything is ours, what do you own),” JD(U) Rajya Sabha Ali Anwar Ansari, who was critical of the party's alliance with the BJP, told NewsClick.

“Jo nishchit ko chhod kar anishchit ki oor jata hai, anishchit to anishchit hai hi, nishchit bhi anishchit ho jata hai (when someone leaves certainty for uncertainty, not only the uncertain remains uncertain even the certainty becomes uncertain),” he said trying to give out a message that Nitish has done a political blunder by joining hands with the BJP.

Taking a jibe at the BJP for not inviting MP Shatrughan Sinha and and senior party leader Yashwant Sinha, both former students of the university, Ansari said, “Nitishji should understand ‘jo apnon ka nahin hua, woh dusron ka kya hoga (those who don’t value their own people, how will they value others).”

Trying to do damage control at the last moment, Patna University Vice-Chancellor Ras Bihari Singh had extended invitations to Shatrughan Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at the eleventh hour when the controversy around invitations sent for the programme refused to die down.

However, the two had already boycotted the event.

While Lalu has been a vocal critic of the BJP, Shatrughan seems to have been side-lined in the party. In a series of tweets, he said he could not make it to the event as he got the invitation very late. “I got an invitation, alas very late and with a very short notice...delayed by the ‘more loyal than the King's people’ involved,” he wrote on the micro blogging site.

‘Modi hijacked a university celebration for his own publicity’

Neither the Patna University nor Nitish Kumar, it was PM Modi who remains the centre of the celebration to the extent that many felt that Modi “hijacked it for his own publicity” an event which was essentially organised to celebrate hundred years of the Patna University.

“It was a university celebration to mark its 100 years and the prime minister was only the chief guest. But unfortunately, Modi hijacked it for his own publicity. Even the chief minister of the state was side-lined,” alleged Ansari.

Theatre activist Anish Ankur, who was a student at the university, sees a reason behind the effort. “It was an unsuccessful attempt of PM Modi to improve his image as there is a sharp decline in his popularity given faulty policies of the government,” he added.

He further added, “By doing so, the BJP – which is a third political front in the state – has attempted to make people feel its ‘strong’ presence in the state”. “It will help it to bargain with JD(U) during seat sharing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he speculated.

Cracks in the JD(U)-BJP alliance in the state is now wide and open. An uneasy JD-U has announced its decision to contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. It made the announcement to counter BJP President Amit Shah, who told party leaders from the state to work on all the 40 Lok Sabha seats.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick