For the first time, the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has agreed to contest the same number of seats with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Before this, the saffron party had always contested fewer seats than JD(U) whenever they fought under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Of the 243 seats, both parties are contesting for 101 seats each, leaving 41 to the smaller allies.

Since 2000, Nitish Kumar — then with the Samata Party and the chief minister for just 7 days under the state’s first NDA government — has remained the face of the alliance. His party, JD(U), which has seen a decline in its fortunes since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was allotted more seats than the BJP in the last assembly elections. Though JD(U) contested 5 more seats than the saffron party, the former was able to bag 43 seats in comparison to the BJP’s 74. Despite this, Nitish Kumar, coming from the backward Kurmi caste, took the oath as the NDA’s chief minister once again, highlighting his appeal in the state, particularly among the backward castes, who form a large chunk of the state’s population. He has carefully cultivated his image as a leader of the marginal communities during his long rule. The BJP too reluctantly agreed to offer the chief minister’s post to Nitish Kumar, as the saffron party also lacks a popular leader within the state.

The JD(U), while claiming itself ideologically as a component of the socialist Mandal movement, in reality has been surviving primarily on Nitish Kumar’s image, with the future really looking bleak.........

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