‘No challenge to PM Modi’: Upendra Kushwaha needles Nitish Kumar on Oppn unity

PATNA: Former Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday ran down the efforts to unite the Opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying there were over a dozen-odd PM candidates across the country and that he did not expect any of them to be in a position to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kushwaha’s prophecy for 2024, which came just a day after he exited the JD-U and floated the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD), was also a swipe at the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who has often spoken of his efforts to unite the Opposition.

“I don’t see any of them in a position to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi even in 2024. Nitish Kumar’s efforts to unite the Opposition have had no impact. The Opposition remains disunited. There are too many claimants to the PM post. There is no coordination in the Opposition efforts and that means no challenge to PM Modi,” he told reporters.

The statement comes against the backdrop of buzz that Kushwaha and his new party, the RLJD, would work closely with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Monday when he was asked about the possibility of working together with the BJP, Kushwaha said that he didn’t know what the future holds.

Bihar BJP leaders have been effusive in their praise of Kushwaha. In a Facebook post on Monday evening, state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said Kushwaha used to be the first to confront him when he spoke against Nitish Kumar and that he had never been Kushwaha’s admirer.

“But today the situation is different and I am forced to accept his courage (to walk out of JD-U),” Jaiswal said, praising Kushwaha for not accepting Nitish Kumar’s move to “revive jungle raj through the back door and till then, allow the government to be run through remote”.

Kushwaha has been sore with Nitish Kumar for endorsing his deputy Tejashwi Yadav as the next leader of the state’s ruling grand alliance on December 13 and hinting that Yadav will be the alliance’s presumptive chief minister in the 2025 assembly elections. In his offensive against Nitish Kumar, Kushwaha often went a step further and claimed that Kumar would effectively merge the JD-U with Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

In a damage-control move, JD-U president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh on Monday insisted that a decision on who would lead the 2025 election campaign for the Grand Alliance (GA) would be decided in 2025.

Political observers said Kushwaha hoped to play the lead role in the party and alliance in 2025 but was forced to chart an independent course after Nitish Kumar announcement. They said the BJP couldn’t have asked for more.

“All this suits the BJP’s scheme of things… to counter the strong vote arithmetic of the Grand Alliance,” said social analyst Prof NK Choudhary.

“Kushwaha may not have the wherewithal to make a big impact on his own, but along with others such as former JD-U president RCP Singh, Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ramvilas), and potential drifters like former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Mukesh Sahni of the Vikashsheel Inshaan Party (VIP), he can make a considerable dent,” Choudhary said, adding that Kushwaha appeared to be trying to occupy “the huge non-BJP, non-RJD space for which upper castes and extremely backward classes may come handy to keep the ghost of jungle Raj at bay. If it suits the BJP, that gives him greater elbow room.”

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said Kushwaha’s exit was only the first of many rebellions in the JD-U. Former minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was the first pillar that had caved in. “Keep watching what happens next?” he added.

Former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar said that it was apparent the BJP will try to bring together smaller parties with influence in certain pockets for the big Bihar fight.

“It is also an opportunity for smaller parties to use it to their advantage, as ultimately it all boils down to seats. How things will unfold post Budget in the state will be a thing to watch. Prashant Kishor is also there, though he is yet to open his cards. A lot will happen ahead of 2024 and this may be just the beginning,” he added.