Assembly poll results in 5 states setback to Nitish’s Sangh Mukta Bharat bid

Sachchidanand Jha

Editor-in-chief

The emergence of West Bengal CM Mamta Bannerjee and Tamilnadu CM J Jayalalitha as still more stronger satraps on their own in the assembly elections in five states and BJP’s big win in Assam hardly strengthen Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s `Sangh Mukta Bharat’ campaign in connection with which he has started visiting different states. Mamta and Jayalalitha have such strong personality that they can never play second fiddle to anyone and never remained in any alliance for long.

For a ` Sangh Mukta Bharat’, Nitish would need active support of all non-BJP chief ministers and parties. But, neither Mamta nor Jayalalitha have so far shown strong antipathy for BJP and PM Narendra Modi, who congratulated both of them on Thursday on their impressive victories in the assembly polls. Moreover, Mamta has inflicted a crushing defeat on Congress- Left combine in West Bengal whereas Nitish has joined hands with Congress, which is a partner in Grand Alliance government in Bihar.

Again, unlike Mamta and Jayalalitha, Nitish is not as strong politically. Lalu Prasad’s RJD has more members in Bihar assembly than JD(U). Nitish recently criticised Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for refusing to head the socialist pariwar. That will hardly win him the support of UP CM Akhilesh Yadav in his `Sangh Mukta Bharat’ bid. Even otherwise, Nitish’s appeal for a `Sangh Mukta Bharat’ sounds more a political rhetoric than a pragmatic politics. After all, Nitsih was with the BJP for 17 years and during that period never criticised the RSS or spoke against the Gujarat riots. In fact, the results of the assembly polls in five states indicate the congress party is fast losing its base in the country. Not surprisingly, it lost heavily in Assam.