Patna Deendayal Upadhyaya function has two guest appearances: Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav

On Monday, Nitish addressed a gathering near Upadhyaya’s statue, located next to the state RSS headquarters.

Incidentally, Nitish had inaugurated the statue in February 2020, when he was the CM in partnership with the BJP-led NDA in Bihar.

Nitish insisted he was at the function as a part of his “official duties”, saying he “respected everyone”. Fielding questions about speculation that he may be planning a return to the NDA, the JD(U) chief said: “Some people keep talking nonsense. I am working towards strengthening the INDIA bloc. I reiterate that I do not go after any power or position.”

In a remark apparently aimed at the talk that he wanted to be named convenor, Nitish said: “Several committees are formed to formulate policies and programmes. Our advice is also sought.”

While Nitish has alternatively flirted with the NDA and RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan, while continuing in his CM post, the RJD is avowedly anti-BJP, making Tejashwi’s presence at the event more of a surprise. Questioned about his presence at the event, Tejashwi denied that he had ever called for discontinuing functions “in memory of RSS leaders”. A senior RJD leader, however, admitted that “it was not a good idea for Tejashwi to attend the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya function”.

Officially, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said: “The Deputy CM attended the function as part of the protocol for a state function. Not too much should be read into it.”

The speculation about Nitish’s unhappiness within INDIA first surfaced when the Bihar CM attended the G20 dinner hosted by the President of India, which the Congress chose to skip, and also shared the dais with PM Narendra Modi.

Following this came the comments of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a public rally in Jhanjharpur (Madhubani) on September 16, where he hit out more at the RJD while seeming soft on Nitish.

On September 17, the JD(U) chief publicly said that he had no idea of the decision taken by the 28-member INDIA bloc to boycott 14 TV anchors across several channels. Tejashwi had welcomed the decision.

JD(U) sources had admitted to The Indian Express that Nitish was upset with his allies over “lack of proper coordination and communication” in the grouping, but added that he would continue to sail with the INDIA bloc. “Right from how joint rallies should be planned to how Left parties should be taken into confidence, to what should be the INDIA’s stand on caste census, we need more clarity,” a JD (U) leader had said, requesting anonymity.

The leader also said that the INDIA constituents had also not been entirely on the same page on key issues like the women’s reservation Bill and caste census.

The Bihar unit of the BJP dismissed Nitish’s presence at the Deendayal Upadhyaya function another example of “old twin-track politics”. BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitish Kumar has always kept the present ally in check and the opponent guessing. He did this when he was with us… But such things are not going to work now. He has lost his power to transfer votes and has become politically irrelevant. There is no question of him coming back to the NDA.”