Free association

Despite his straight-arrow image,Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has managed to make a big scene and heighten uncertainty about the future of coalition with the BJP,and by extension the alliances in the forthcoming assembly election. First,he went apoplectic over the advertisement that yoked him together with Narendra Modi. It was,by the BJP,an inept attempt at making Nitish Kumars shine rub off on Modi,on the occasion of the BJP national executive meet in Patna. But for Nitish Kumar,it was like foregrounding his biggest political liability one that could potentially make all the difference to Muslim voters who shored him up in the last election. To emphasise his outrage,he has now returned the Rs 5 crore that the Gujarat government had given Bihar during the Kosi floods. After some embarrassed explaining and soothing,now the BJP seems to be giving it back,as deputy CM Sushil Modi cancelled a vishwas yatra with the CM,and the party is understood to have had strong words with JDU President Sharad Yadav.

However,to any observer of the states politics,this is a transparent charade on both sides. For Nitish Kumar,it is a way of distancing himself from the possible political blowback of partnering with the BJP,and for Sushil Modi and the others in the BJPs state unit,this huffiness is a way of saving face in a potential parting of ways. Having weathered almost five years of alliance with the BJP in Bihar,and a longer one at the national level,the current pretence is obvious. The BJP-JDU alliance has been a tough,durable one because they fill obvious needs for each other. In a time when Bihars old mobilisations look ever more malleable,every constituency matters. For Nitish Kumar,allying with the Congress makes little long-term sense given that the Congress is focused on recovering its past powers and would like to see the end of parties like the JDU.

Given how firmly the BJP and JDU are hitched together,Nitish Kumars sudden trouble with Modi is plain and simple spectacle. The alliance has carefully kept up appearances of ambivalence,in order to give each other electoral wiggle-room. After all,the JDU was a rock-solid part of the NDA in 2002,when Gujarat under Modi was inflamed with communal hate. And surely,it shouldnt take a photograph and advertisement to remind Nitish Kumar that Narendra Modi remains one of the strongest pillars of the BJP. The insincerity and cynicism behind this theatre could damage Nitish Kumars image,whether or not it comes with political consequences.