A month into the new regime in Bihar, Bhartiya Janata Party leader and new Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has emerged as the unquestionable leader of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the State, effectively sidelining its coalition partner, the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) from its role as the Bada Bhai (elder brother) in the alliance. After over two decades of rule in Bihar, the JD (U), led by party leader Nitish Kumar, gave the mantle over to its coalition partner, the BJP, on April 15.

Mr. Choudhary, BJP’s MLA from the Tarapur constituency, has been taking governance forward in the State, in his new avatar, in line with Mr. Kumar’s policies. At least, that’s what he aims to convey by announcing the same every now and then, and by consistently meeting Mr. Kumar before taking any major decision regarding governance.

Underneath the surface

However, while everything looks hunky-dory on the outside, one can find several grey lines if one looks beneath the political surface of the ruling NDA in Bihar.

The first and foremost was the smooth evacuation of the former Chief Minister Mr. Kumar from the sprawling 1, Anne Marg residence which had been his permanent address for about two decades. Mr. Kumar shifted to a bungalow in 7, circular road in the neighbourhood of his political arch-rival, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who also resides on the circular road. Mr. Choudhary quietly became the new occupant of the residence, and it was unobtrusively renamed as the Lok Sewak Awas.

Then came the bulldozer action against encroachers across the State, which many have now come to identify as a classic BJP tactic, originating from the neighbouring State of Uttar Pradesh ruled by BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Bulldozers were seen demolishing houses as part of anti-encroachment drives in cities such as Patna, Chhapra, Darbhanga, Sasaram etc.

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And finally, Mr. Choudhary, like Mr. Kumar, had declared that he would not compromise on three Cs: crime, corruption and communalism. But, criminals are frequently being ‘encountered’ in the State, wherein suspected criminals are shot in the leg during alleged armed encounters. This is again similar to Uttar Pradesh’s “Operation Langda”. JD (U) leaders have just made statements to the effect that crime would not be tolerated in the State “at any cost”.

Political analysts say that whatever action the new Chief Minister has been taking in his over one-month rule in Bihar is very much in line with what the BJP does in other States. “The BJP is known to quietly pursue its own agenda wherever it comes to power and in Bihar too they would do the same, Nitish Kumar or no Nitish Kumar. There should not be any ambiguity on this”, says political analyst Nawal Kishore Choudhary.

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Some economists though, do not feel very enthusiastic about the “projected growth” of the State, stating that as far as the State’s economy was concerned, Bihar even today, stands where it was in 2004-05.

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, at the party’s 12th meeting at Ara (Bhojpur), appealed to the people to protest against the government’s “bulldozer politics and anti-people policies”.

Emerging cracks

On May 17, senior JD (U) leader and Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh, asserted that the current Chief Minister had stated again and again that he would follow the path of development that Mr. Kumar had paved.

Ever since the new regime came to power in the State, Mr. Singh, a close confidante of Mr. Kumar is said to have gone soft towards the BJP along with the JD (U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha.

On the same day, however, a former close aide of Mr. Kumar and strongman of the Kosi area of the State, Anand Mohan Singh, stated that all was not well with the alliance, and alleged that the JD (U) has become a party of “money-baggers”.

While JD (U) leaders have condemned such comments, party insiders say that after a month of governance under Mr. Choudhary, cracks between the ruling NDA allies in Bihar are visibly widening. “Let’s see for how long things will be smooth, as we all know that the BJP eventually gobbles up it’s allies wherever it comes to power”, said one leader, preferring anonymity.