By Premkumar Mani
03 September, 2012
Countercurrents.org
Narendra Modi and
Nitish Kumar, the chief ministers of Gujarat and Bihar respectively,
have, of late, been grabbing the headlines. Not only do their names
begin with the same alphabet but they are also members of the same
political alliance, NDA. But now, both are at loggerheads. At least it
appears so.
Very few people know that Nitish Kumar has had a
sneaking admiration for Narendra Modi. In fact, I can detect a tinge of
camaraderie in their present antagonism. Psychology says that love and
hatred are the two sides of the same coin. Their friendship and enmity
have got so intermingled that it is difficult to make out one from the
other.
I remember an incident. It was the summer of 2004.
Lok Sabha results were out and in Bihar, the UPA under the leadership of
Lalu Prasad Yadav had got a decisive lead. The NDA, led by
George-Nitish had been badly mauled. Nitish ji came to my place. He was
free and so we talked for hours on everything under the sun. My
contention was that the NDA had to bite the dust because of Narendra
Modi. Nitish ji was not ready to concede my point. That I was opposed to
Modi was quite palpable to him. In a somber and firm voice, Nitish ji
said, “Narendra Modi is the new face of the BJP. He comes from a Most
Backward Class. He is Ghanchi, a Ghanchi! It is a minority backward
caste there. The BJP’s Brahmin lobby is out to defame him. Even Vajpayee
has joined its ranks. Modi is a dynamic man. Meet him once and you will
become his admirer. He comes from a very poor family. He is extremely
simple and very diligent.” Nitish ji appeared to be in a state of
trance. He was unstoppable. Then, fondly recalling an occasion when Modi
played host to him, he concluded his monologue, “I have become his
fan.”
I am surprised how this fan of Modi's has turned his
foe. Is this what is called politics? Is all this being done just to
grab a share of the Muslim vote bank? Or, is there something more to it?
I cannot say what the truth is. At the personal
level, I am not in touch with Nitish ji. And surmises are, after all,
only surmises. Some say that Nitish Kumar is indirectly helping Narendra
Modi by keeping the latter constantly in the news. Who would not like
such a friend? Maybe there is some truth in this conjecture but,
publicly, Nitish has turned their relations quite bitter. Probably, he
is hoping for some big gain. But is that possible?
Narendra Modi is BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.
Nitish Kumar’s eyes are also set on the same position. This clash of
interests has turned friends into foes. What else can be expected in
such circumstances?
As far as I remember, in June 2010, just prior to
the last Bihar Vidhan Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar had hosted a banquet
at his official residence for the delegates of the BJP national
executive meeting. However the banquet was cancelled at the last moment
quoting an advertisement as an excuse. The said advertisement was
inserted by a businessman in many newspapers. It included a photograph
of Narendra Modi andNitish Kumar jointly campaigning for the 2009 Lok
Sabha polls. The businessman wanted to welcome Modi to Bihar with this
advertisement. However, Nitish Kumar went into such a tizzy that he even
threw normal courtesies to the winds. The monetary aid extended by the
Gujarat government for the flood victims of Bihar was also returned.
Nitish did not want his close relations with Modi to be made public. The
advertiser, probably, did not comprehend that some
relations---especially those of love---are best kept private. Making
them public is fraught with dangers. And that is what happened. The BJP
leaders had to face humiliation. They bore it without demur. They are
quite used to it. They had put up with the tantrums of Mayawati in Uttar
Pradesh equally without complaint. These are the compulsions of
alliance politics. The BJP doesn't mind being humiliated by persons from
whom it hopes to benefit. And in this instance, the BJP is dependent on
Nitish and not the other way round.
In the Presidential elections of 2012, Nitish did
not support the BJP’s candidate. He supported the Congress nominee
Pranab Mukherjee and was once again patted on the back by the media for
his “secularism”. The media did not care to enlighten us as to what
secularism had to do with this. Was the BJP-backed Sangma communal? And
if not, does the Congress have a monopoly over secularism? Judging from
Nitish’s recent posturing, he seems to believe that he is the flag
bearer-in-chief of secularism in the country and that the nation’s
secular polity would collapse without him. No one even tried to bring
the reality to the fore - the reality that Pranab Mukherjee was more a
nominee of the Ambanis than of the Congress. An envoy of the Ambani
family is an MP from Nitish’s party and he controls the entire party
set-up. Those who are patting Nitish Kumar on the back should also
remember that Bal Thakeray was also a member of the comity of leaders
that supported Pranab Da.
I am not among those who have given a clean chit to
Modi in the post-Godhra communal riots or have forgotten Advani's role
in the Babri demolition. The 2002 riots in Gujarat were horrible and as
chief minister, it was Modi's duty to stop the violence. I hold Modi
guilty even today. But, was he alone guilty? At that time, Atal Behari
Vaypayee’s government was ruling at the Centre. Why did it not dismiss
the Gujarat government? After all, Vajpayee had the precedent of
dismissal of a string of state governments after the demolition of the
Babri masjid. Just before the riots, the Bihar government was dismissed
for the ‘Senari massacre’. The Gujarat riots were much more serious and
sinister than ‘Senari massacre’. When the Bihar government could be
sacked for one single massacre why couldn't the government of Gujarat be
dismissed? Was Modi alone guilty of not following the ‘rajdharma’? What
sort of ‘rajdharma’ was Vajpayee following?
And Nitish Kumar--who considers Vajpayee a
messiah--which ‘rajdharma’ did he follow? It should not be forgotten
that Nitish Kumar was the Railways minister when the Godhra train arson
took place. Nitish Kumar, who had offered to resign after the Gaisal
train mishap did not even care to visit the site of the Godhra tragedy.
It is surprising that the same man is now sermonising to Modi and that
too regarding riots.
The role of both Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar in
the Godhra train tragedy is not above reproach. Both of them and
subsequently their common political ideal, Atal Bihari Vajpayee,did not
fulfill the ‘rajdharma’. Both are publicity-crazy and both are
self-anointed ‘Vikash Purush’. As for their achievements, economic
inequality had grown in both Bihar and Gujarat. In both the States, the
rich have become more powerful while the poor have sunken deeper into
misery.
But there are some crucial differences between
Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. While Nitish Kumar comes from a kulak
Kurmi family of Bihar, Narendra Modi hails from an extremely poor and
most backward class Ghanchi family of Gujarat. Nitish's father was an
Ayervedic ‘Vaidyaraj’ and a Congress leader while Narendra's father was a
small-time tea vendor. Narendra Modi spent his childhood washing the
used glasses at his father’s shop when Nitish was studying Engineering,
Narendra was the domestic helper in a lawyer family’s home where his
responsibilities included cleaning 9 rooms and preparing food for 15
members of the family. He somehow studied and acquired degrees by
appearing in exams as private student. Whatever he learned, he learned
in the school of hard knocks. He might be associated with rightist
politics but his childhood was as full of struggle as that of the
Russian writer Maxim Gorky. There is another crucial difference between
Narendra and Nitish. Even as a chief minister, the former led a simple
life. He maintained a safe distance from sycophants. He also avoided
associating himself with tainted persons. All this is not true of Nitish
Kumar. He once had a clean image but now he is embroiled in all sorts
of controversies. His lifestyle has changed. According to information
procured through RTI, he has spent crores of rupees from the state
exchequer on his ancestral village and his official residence. He likes
to be surrounded by sycophants, criminals and tainted persons. And he is
just a bit behind Mayawati in erecting the statues of the members of
his clan.
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