Tough job

The primary concern for Nitish and Tejashwi will be creating jobs. If they fail, this will also be the BJP’s main weapon

- PRATUL SHARMA

NITISH KUMAR’S FIRST tenure as chief minister in 2000 was short-lived. He held the office for only seven days before Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad outmanoeuvred the National Democratic Alliance with the support of the Congress. Five years later, the elections again resulted in a fractured mandate. As a government could not be formed, fresh elections were held nine months later. The NDA got a clear majority with the Janata Dal (United) emerging as the largest party. Yet, there was no clarity on who the chief minister would be—Nitish’s colleagues like George Fernandes and Digvijay Singh were against him. It was the then BJP state president Sushil Kumar Modi who came to his rescue.

“The media was speculating on different names though he was the natural candidate as he had been CM in 2000,” Modi told THE WEEK. “But, no one was willing to take a call. I realised it would lead to the same uncertain situation of a few months ago. So, I unilaterally announced his name. His name was such that no one could oppose it.” On recent developments, Modi said that Nitish had now “betrayed the mandate three times”.