Regional parties flexed political muscle at Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony in Patna on Friday.
In attendance as Mr. Kumar took oath were West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, DMK’s M.K. Stalin, JMM leader Hemant Soren and Jharkhand Vikas Party leader Babulal Marandi, among others. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also attended the grand show.
“Bihar’s message is that regional aspirations are very important in running the country. You can’t run the whole country on a singular pattern and idea. Regional parties’ aspirations have been reflected in Bihar,” Janata Dal (United) leader Bashishtha Narain Singh told The Hindu .
He added that the NDA had projected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of their campaign but the Centre’s “anti-incumbency” had begun to show on the ground within a year-and-a-half.
Significantly, in 2014, the BJP had succeeded in winning a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, which led to single party dominance in the Lower House for the first time since 1984-85, when Rajiv Gandhi had swept to power with a huge majority.
Many had seen this as a break with a three-decade politics of coalitions and fractured mandates, which saw regional players acquire great clout at the Centre.
However, the simple majority of the saffron party seems far from single-party dominance, with regional players tactically closing ranks and preventing a jump in the Rajya Sabha strength of the BJP.
Pressure groupThe emergence of regional parties as a pressure group, however, may also be related to the unprecedented decline of the Congress, which has for now deprived it of the status of the “natural” pivot of anti-BJP politics.
Rather than regional players seeking a third front, they are now a competitor for the status of the prime pivot of anti-BJP politics.
Prof Datta sees Mr. Kumar’s record in power and as his coalitional experience as partly responsible for Friday’s spectacle of anti-BJP-ism. “Nitish Kumar is a very relevant prospect against someone like Narendra Modi. He also has coalitional experience in and out of power.”
JNU academic Badri Narayan however says that the strategy of entering into alliances may work for the Congress. “If the Congress keeps forging alliances patiently, it will pick up seats throughout India.”
