Team NDA makes all the difference

In July 2004, just two months after the Lok Sabha defeat, initial meetings on Bihar began. Arun Jaitley of the BJP and Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) met for dinner, in what was to become the first of fortnightly conferences. Shortly afterwards, Sushil Modi joined them.

The plan was to ‘‘finalise candidates by September’’, but that didn’t happen. The BJP’s internal politics in Bihar proved a roadblock. Neither did Nitish’s attempts to woo Ram Vilas Paswan bear fruit, efforts the BJP central leadership now says it wasn’t entirely convinced about.

Nevertheless, by January, the alliance had its candidates ready. The JD(U) was stronger locally, the BJP provided the ‘‘logistical support’’. ‘‘Left to themselves,’’ said a BJP leader, ‘‘they (the JD-U) couldn’t have managed the campaign, the helicopters, the money, the fine-tuning.’’

The issue of chief ministerial candidate was so messy that the alliance began the election without one. Midway, L.K. Advani announced Nitish’s name. But that was not before its drama.

Senior BJP office-bearers in Delhi wanted to project Shatrughan Sinha. Local feedback indicated otherwise. ‘‘Shatrughan is a kayasth,’’ said a state-level functionary, ‘‘and the fact is Bihar is not ready for an upper caste chief minister for the next 10 years, maybe 20 years.’’

Yet, as the election got underway, a decision had to be made. ‘‘We realised the RJD and NDA were neck and neck,’’ explained an NDA leader, ‘‘with about 30 per cent vote share each. At this point, we needed one caste group to come out aggressively in our favour. We thought if we put up Nitish’s name, it would get the Kurmis to vote with more enthusiasm.’’

Much of the debate took place in the BJP. Jaitley pointed out Nitish could tilt the scales. Not all his party colleagues agreed, but his logic was backed by another astute politician who has been around Bihar — Pramod Mahajan.

Finally, Advani announced Nitish’s candidature without so much as consulting the JD(U). ‘‘We didn’t want the Thakur lobby there to get active,’’ said a BJP leader, indicating that in Bihar’s minefield-like politics, you have to watch your allies as much as your opponents.