A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting in Bhagalpur city of Bihar, released the 19th installment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, attacked the opposition on Maha Kumbh 2025 and slammed the main opposition party the RJD and its patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, BJP President and Union Minister J P Nadda arrived in Patna.
While the the Union Health Minister met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a state guest house and called it a “courtesy meeting”, analysts believe it was more than what he claimed.
Was Nitish- Nadda Meet ‘Courtesy Call’?
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both leaders of the BJP.
JP Nadda is most likely to attend the centenary celebration of Patna Medical College and Hospital, which is to be attended by President Draupadi Murmu.
However, analysts believe, there is much more than the courtesy call as Nadda is most likely to be replaced as the BJP chief soon and he may want to set the ball rolling before he quits.
JP Nadda, who has roots in Bihar, has focused on the assembly elections scheduled for November this year.
BJP President Sets Ball Rolling Before Quitting
His meeting with Nitish Kumar may be a curtain-raiser before the full-fledged talks between the BJP and the JD(U) begin.
The meeting holds special significance because Nadda is not considered a hawk and he is believed to have a soft corner for the Bihar Chief Minister and his party.
PM Modi Ups Ante In Bihar Politics
The meeting is also significant considering the rhetoric PM Narendra Modi raised in his programmes and the way he attacked the opposition a few hours before Nadda arrived in Patna.
PM Modi signaled at raking up the issues of Hindutva in the polls by invoking the Maha Kumbh 2025 and attacking the opposition leaders by saying that the people of the state would never pardon those who badmouthed the event.
He also made his intentions of raking up the alleged bad governance of the RJD clear by holding it responsible for the “jungle-raj”.
RJD Hits Back
Though the Bihar Elections are months away, the opposition also came forward with its strategy of attacking the BJP and holding it responsible for the backwardness of the state.
RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav came out with a hammer and tongs to hit back at the BJP and PM Modi.
In a no-holds-barred attack, the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar assembly posed as many as 15 questions to the leader and held his party responsible for almost all wrongs in Bihar.
The back-to-back incidents hold special significance as the BJP and the JD(U) are not in the best of the terms and are caught in the game of one-upmanship.
Will BJP Jettison Nitish Kumar Before Bihar Elections?
Analysts believe though the saffron party wants
to go to the Bihar Elections 2025 with the JD(U) so that its share of the OBC votes gets transferred to it, the party does not want to make Nitish Kumar Chief Minister again.
The saffron party has never been in the seat of power in Bihar alone and does not want to take the risk of going solo to the polls, but it wants to have its own man at the head of the government.
Political observers also believe Nitish Kumar is on a weak wicket with his credibility at stake after making many flip-flops and getting his voter base eroded considerably.
Nitish Kumar Waiting To Launch Son Nishant?
He may launch his engineer and non-political son Nishant Kumar ahead of the Bihar polls and may be looking for the right opportunity for him.
After his rival Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tej Pratap offered Nishant Kumar to fight polls as an RJD candidate, he may be toying with the idea.
The chess board is being laid out, the knives are coming out and every player is gearing up for the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. JP Nadda has met Nitish Kumar with this background.
