Nitish Kumar's resignation: Corruption card comes back to haunt Opposition

While the end of the Mahagathbandhan was expected, Nitish Kumar’s resignation by taking a moral high ground was not.

Nitish’s resignation was soon followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting and congratulating the Bihar Chief Minister for taking a stand against corruption. This is a signal that PM intends to revive the issue again closer to elections to use it against Opposition faces in different parties

This development will also put the Congress’ idea of a mahagathbandan or a grand alliance on the back foot.

Nitish’s resignation also brings BJP and JDU together, putting a spanner in the Opposition’s plan to counter BJP in the Hindi heartland during national elections.

Many would call Nitish a political shape shifter and an opportunist. But in politics there are no permanent enemies or friends. It also reflects the reduced strength of the Congress to influence decision making at the regional level.

The decision would put further pressure on the Congress to explain its position on the issues of corruption plaguing the political system. It is for not without reason that Nitish Kumar mentioned Rahul Gandhi’s name in the press conference. Rahul Gandhi tore the ordinance before the Lok Sabha elections embarrassing then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of corruption.

One will have to wait and see as to how many Congress MLAs would remain with the party at the state level further eroding its strength in the legislature.

For Lalu Prasad Yadav, it is going to be a lonely walk in the national politics. He might receive support from other political parties, but in the long run he may run out of support as corruption will again become a dominant narrative as opposed to lynching and economic issues.

The biggest worry for the Opposition should be that they will not have a Prime Ministerial face in 2019. Nitish was being touted as a political face who could have united various regional satraps but in this case the only option for the regional parties would be to push Rahul Gandhi on Centre stage which in today’s scenario is not a viable option as party might not be able to create a consensus around his name. The net gainer in the current scenario remains Nitish Kumar who has not only dumped the incumbency of his tenure on RJD but has also come out unscathed and reinvented by taking a position on the issue of corruption.

RJD will only have the option to go for a personalized attack against Nitish which will have a limited time span.

Lastly the current development should also be food for thought for the Congress Party. Congress has been going in for alliance after alliance from state to state starting from Bihar to West Bengal to Uttar Pradesh which is solely based on the purpose to defeat BJP. Except Bihar it has tasted defeat in rest of the states. It needs to introspect about its shrinking strength and BJP’s ability to manoeuvre developments in states sidelining the grand old party. It needs to build itself rather than finding purpose in defeating the BJP. The wait can be long, but return would be meaningful and lasting.