Relations cannot remain even normal, forget cordial, between Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).

With Paswan gradually upping the ante against Kumar, the latest being his virulent criticism of the government on the gang rape of a woman inside an ambulance, there are clear indications of more turmoil within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), ahead of the polls in the state.

Paswan’s praise sometime back for Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, a known critic of Nitish Kumar, indicates a determined effort to undermine the stature of the Bihar Chief Minister within the alliance. The question could arise why Paswan is firing at Kumar in the first place and would he go as far as distancing himself from the NDA, which could include loss of a lucrative Ministerial berth in the Narendra Modi government.

There is a political and social compulsion for Paswan to distance his party and himself from Kumar’s shadow to survive the rough and tumble of Bihar politics. The vote bank of the two parties are largely identified with their founder-leaders, be it the Dusadhs........

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