Mission Nitish 2024: JD(U) to renew Opposition unity pitch, use caste census as pivot

JD(U) national spokesperson KC Tyagi, a former Rajya Sabha MP, told The Indian Express, “We have been currently in the phase of Mandal 2.0 in which socialists and other parties have to come together to counter BJP’s aggressive politics of Hindutva, nationalism, and labharthi schemes. Under the given political situation, the caste census demand has to be the fulcrum of Opposition politics.”

Tyagi said his party had reiterated the demand but there was a need to raise the pitch. Kumar is likely to renew his bid for Opposition unity after the Winter Session of the Bihar legislature that begins on Tuesday. “Those who have bigger numbers should rule the roost. And hence, it is important to get those numbers through a nationwide caste census,” said the JD(U) leader.

Though Nitish Kumar often plays down his prime ministerial ambitions, Tyagi called it “Mission Nitish 2024”. He went on to say, “Nitish Kumar is one of the most important leaders and one of longest-serving CMs. We have been trying to make most of his national appeal for getting maximum Opposition parties on one platform.”

Asked about the lessons from the loss in the Kurhani Assembly bypoll to the BJP, Tyagi said, “One win or loss does not say much, but the state unit will surely work towards better cementing ties with allies.”

At the JD(U) plenary session in Patna on Saturday, the party did not read too much into its by-election defeat and instead reiterated its demand for national Opposition unity. The party attributed the BJP’s landslide victory in Gujarat to a fragmented Opposition and took heart from the Congress’s victory in Himachal Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) win in Delhi municipal polls.

Kumar also accused the BJP of trying to weaken his party by engineering splits and rebellions when they were in alliance and vowed to give a befitting reply in the next general elections.

Former Union Minister and Patna Saheb MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said in response, “It is not Nitish Kumar of 2009 or 2010 when he had emerged as a key NDA (National Democratic Alliance) leader. Nitish Kumar has lost his sheen and appeal. The leader who is not able to pull off a bypoll victory has been daydreaming about taking on an immensely popular leader such as PM Narendra Modi. It seems that Nitish is refusing to learn the message from our historic Gujarat win … As for the so-called Opposition unity, it has not been taking off at all.”