Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is a celebrity in Indian politics whose opponents have been unable to do any damage for decades. They have not learned to object. He has been sworn in as chief minister of Bihar about seven times. His party has been in the minority in Bihar for the past seven years. His specialty is that regardless of whether it is NDA or Grand Alliance, he still retains the protagonist (CM) despite having fewer seats. Now, former Haryana deputy CM and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala has also expressed his desire to become the Nitish Kumar of Haryana politics. Obviously he wasn’t going to just say it. Dushyant must have said this after careful consideration. But can he emerge as a kingmaker like Nitish Kumar in the 2024 assembly elections with fewer seats? Let’s see what are the 4 meanings of his remarks?
What is the hope of becoming someone like Nitish Kumar?
A total of 90 seats are going to polls in Haryana. It is widely expected that a Congress government will be formed in the state. But everyone also knows that the BJP has the power to change the rules of the game till the last day. The BJP is characterized by its efforts till the last round of elections, and this year alone, the Lok Sabha election data shows that the BJP is leading in about 44 parliaments. The Congress party, on the other hand, leads with 42 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party is also leading by about 4 seats. From this perspective, there appears to be a neck-and-neck fight between the Congress and the BJP. People familiar with Haryana politics also say that the overall seat gap between the Congress and the BJP will be only 4 to 5 seats. If Hung Assembly wins this close contest and JJP gets 4 to 5 seats in total, then Dushyant’s dream of becoming Nitish Kumar can come true.
It seems difficult to be Nitish Kumar at the moment
But judging from the plight of the PPP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, it seems that the PPP cannot even get a seat. Not only this, the way MLAs from JJP are defecting from the party and joining the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, it seems that the atmosphere in the state is not favorable for Dushyant. Dushyant Chautala’s core constituency Jats are also angry with him for not leaving the BJP during the farmers’ movement. At present, the Congress appears to be well on its way to winning over Jat votes in the state. Political analysts say the JJP’s position in Haryana is not strong enough to overtake the Aam Aadmi Party. It is true that the JJP has forged an alliance with the Bhim Army’s Chandreshkhar party Azad Samaj Party in the state, but there are doubts whether Dalit votes will go to the JJP-ASP.
Secondly, the extremely backward classes of Bihar remain with Nitish Kumar forever. This vote bank of Kumar can be moved anywhere he wants. But that was not the case with Dushyant. Today, Jat votes will be divided between Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and INLD. Third, Nitish is a very old leader of Bihar. People are happy to accept either the BJP or the RJD as their boss. Not only is Dushyant Chautala younger, he also has a much smaller political profile in the state than Nitish. Therefore, it is far-fetched to say that Dushyant Chautala can reach Nitish Kumar’s stature in these assembly elections.
