Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Nitish Kumar is facing a dilemma' that was published in Newsband

Nitish Kumar is facing a dilemma

Though Nitish Kumar has done a substantial work in Bihar, his indirect

objection to Modi as PM candidate will not give him any brownie points. This blame game should be stopped before more damage can happen to the NDA as a whole. On the other hand people should learn to sort out their animosities to show maturity on their front. After all, people of India desperately need a prime minister who can steer this country in right direction in this tough times and NDA surely has at least one person for that.

Though many commentators suggest that by not supporting Modi's candidature for prime-minister, Nitish is going to woo the minorities in Bihar and this would be great move for JD(U)'s electoral gains.

If a split with BJP hurts Nitish's electoral chances in Bihar, then JD(U) would adopt all types of pressure tactics to stop Modi but will never call off the alliance. However, if Nitish feels JD(U) alone can win Bihar, then this alliance has every chance of breaking as it is getting increasingly difficult for BJP leaders to sideline Modi.

JD(U) is indulging in drama by giving eight months time to BJP to select their PM nominee who is 'secular'. Where was JD(U)'s secularism when the riots of 2002 took place? So, all this is drama by all political parties to fool the public and ultimate objective is political power (by hook or by crook). Politics of ideology has been long buried many decades ago.

It is clear that BJP would not be in a position to brush aside Modi to please Nitish. Vacuum created by Congress led UPA is too tempting to forego. Modi is BJP's trump card to cash in this opportunity. Nitish is also after power and is addressing his Muslim voters by attacking Modi. As the election comes nearer, he will know where he stands without BJP. It will be foolhardy for him to jump into the sinking ship of Congress and he knows it too well.

Nitish is representing the non-RSS leaders. Nitish Kumar has given time till the year end to the BJP to announce its PM candidate. He might extend the time till the announcement of result of next general elections. JD(U) requires the 100% support from BJP to retain its base at Bihar.

So far one only knows that Nitish Kumar is opposing the idea of offering PM-ship to Modi. But what is the opinion of other senior BJP leaders like Jaswanth Singh, Sushma Swaraj or Advani? Are they not in the race for PM post? It is possible that the Modi camp is more worried about BJP leaders than Nitish Kumar.

The right thing for BJP would be to take up the question of PM after election results only. Why waste energy now on hypothetical questions. All should campaign to win.

However, citizens want to know how would BJP-led NDA form and run the government in the Centre, in case NDA gets close to 250 seats? Who would be the new alliance partners in NDA in case JD (U) quits NDA? Would Mamata Banerjee, Jaya Lalithaa, Biju Patnaik of BJD (and possibly Telangana Rashtriya Samiti) be the new alliance partners in the NDA? What would be the stability of such a coalition government and who in NDA would adroitly manage the relationship with whimsical leaders of the regional parties?