Q/ What is the reason for Nitish Kumar switching sides?
A/ There are three reasons. First is Nitish Kumar’s ambition. He thinks that he has been chief minister for 17 years, and is now looking for a national role. That is not possible with the BJP as Narendra Modi is there. Second is the jealousy of [JD(U)] president Lalan Singh. He has been angry ever since R.C.P. Singh became Union minister. He thinks the BJP did not make him minister, but the truth is that the JD(U) never recommended his name. Since then, he had been trying to break the state government, and was working against the Centre. He even joined hands with Lalu Prasad. The third factor is the desperation of Tejashwi Yadav as he wanted his government. He had already reached 114 seats with allies and only needed a few more MLAs.
All these factors came together to force this situation. Nitish had said in the past that he would die rather than join hands with the RSS/BJP, but he did. He said he would never go with Lalu, but he did. There is no ideology involved in the episode. It is because of these three factors.
Q/ Nitish Kumar said the BJP tried to break his party.
A/ If we had broken his party, then how was our government formed? Even if all JD(U) MLAs merged with us, there would not have been a government (because of the lack of numbers). We have never split an ally. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena was not our ally; Eknath Shinde came to us after breaking away.
Q/ Since you were not part of the government, was the necessary glue missing?
A/ I don’t think it is true. I made my best effort to ensure that the previous alliance could continue for 13 years without much conflict. But the BJP tried its best. The party has many able leaders who tried their best and were communicating well. [Union Minister] Dharmendra Pradhan came twice. But when Nitish’s ambition was ignited and he thought there was no scope for him in the NDA, he went to the other side.
Q/ Do you think there is a deal to make Tejashwi Yadav chief minister after 2025?
A/ I cannot say what could be the deal between them.
Q/ Nitish says he will strengthen opposition unity. Will he be successful?
A/ [West Bengal Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee also tried it, but failed. She is more powerful than Nitish, she has more MLAs and MPs. KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao), too, has more MLAs and MPs, even he failed. Nitish can claim anything, but it does not mean anything.
Q/ Can Nitish Kumar be prime minister candidate?
A/ In the Lok Sabha, the face is Narendra Modi, there is no one else. There may be regional faces in states. Modi’s popularity graph is so high that there is no competition. Nitish’s backward votes had come to us in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when he got only two seats. Modi symbolises the backward community, so that chunk of votes have come to the BJP. He will be the face of the 2024 elections, too.