In the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, Lalu Yadav’s undivided Janata Dal bagged 33 seats in Bihar. Congress managed just one. An arrogant Lalu soon conveniently forgot his friends who had tripped Ram Sunder Das to help him wrest the post of CM. Nitish Kumar, a young Kurmi leader was one of them. It was not that Nitish lacked political acumen. But Lalu cleverly inherited the inheritance of Karpoori Thakur and mingled it with his Yadav vote-base to deliver a potent mixture: something Nitish could not do. “It was a do or die situation for Nitish. Lalu was unwilling to recognise the contribution of any of his comrades and obviously Nitish felt suffocated,” remembers senior journalist Surendra Kishore.
Nitish’s Kurmi caste too felt cheated in the new scheme of things. Nitish decided to strike. A missed opportunity would have cost him his political existence. Keeping the upcoming assembly elections of 2005 in mind, he organised a Kurmi Mahachetna rally in Gandhi Maidan in 1994 where his supporters openly expressed their desire to see him as Chief Minister. Lalu and Nitish never saw eye to eye again.
Nitish’s fledgling Samata Party was launched with much fanfare. George Fernandes backed him. The fodder scam gave Nitish the ammunition he needed. But the 1995 Assembly polls not only strengthened Lalu’s position, it pushed Nitish’s Samata, with merely eight seats, to the edge. In 1996, Nitish got his chance to bounce back.
Lalu had promised he would not let George win from Muzaffarpur in the parliamentary polls. Nitish mobilised his entire Kurmi support base and assured George’s win. He proved that he was a politician of substance. He came out of the shadows of Lalu and Sharad Yadav. He took calculated risks. He unseated Lalu’s RJD and became Chief Minister. His revenge was complete. “Nitish is a patient man. It is the most necessary trait in politics. Only a smart political manager and a mass leader would have unseated Lalu. He proved he is both,” says Ranjan Yadav, JD(U) MP.
Nitish’s Kurmi caste too felt cheated in the new scheme of things. Nitish decided to strike. A missed opportunity would have cost him his political existence. Keeping the upcoming assembly elections of 2005 in mind, he organised a Kurmi Mahachetna rally in Gandhi Maidan in 1994 where his supporters openly expressed their desire to see him as Chief Minister. Lalu and Nitish never saw eye to eye again.
Nitish’s fledgling Samata Party was launched with much fanfare. George Fernandes backed him. The fodder scam gave Nitish the ammunition he needed. But the 1995 Assembly polls not only strengthened Lalu’s position, it pushed Nitish’s Samata, with merely eight seats, to the edge. In 1996, Nitish got his chance to bounce back.
Lalu had promised he would not let George win from Muzaffarpur in the parliamentary polls. Nitish mobilised his entire Kurmi support base and assured George’s win. He proved that he was a politician of substance. He came out of the shadows of Lalu and Sharad Yadav. He took calculated risks. He unseated Lalu’s RJD and became Chief Minister. His revenge was complete. “Nitish is a patient man. It is the most necessary trait in politics. Only a smart political manager and a mass leader would have unseated Lalu. He proved he is both,” says Ranjan Yadav, JD(U) MP.
