Former foes RCP Singh & Prashant Kishor unite: A real challenge to Nitish Kumar or just optics ahead of Bihar Election?
The merger means political foes turning friends. RCP Singh and Kishor were known to be fierce rivals during their stints in the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (Uinted). On Sunday, however, the two leaders showered praises on each other.
'I was fascinated by how the JSP has been speaking about issues that concern the common man. We are committed to work towards making Bihar beautiful and prosperous,' Singh said as he donned the JSP's yellow scarf while being into the party by Kishor in Patna.
How will the merger impact the political landscape in poll bound Bihar? Singh, former national president of JD(U), is a known OBC Kurmi face from Nalanda – considered Nitish Kumar's fortress.
Singh, expert said, may help the JSP consolidate a section of the Kurmi community – known as a core voter base of Nitish – in its favour. Kishor's party may get a boost among Kurmis, but not much, they said. More than a mass leader Singh is known for his organisational skills as a strategist.
'From the optics perspective, both RCP and Kishor, former Nitish aides, would come as a stronger force in targetting the JD-U chief ahead of elections. They would try to send out a message on how two former aides of Nitish Kumar have gone against him,' said Amitabh Tiwari, political strategist and founder of VoteVibe, a newly-founded firm at the forefront of political reasearch and sentiment analysis.
The Kurmi, along with sister-caste Koeri, which makes up approximately 7-8 8 per cent of Bihar's electorate, is a significant voting bloc, particularly in districts like Nalanda, Arwal, and Jehanabad of the state's Magadh region.
Apart form Nitish Kumar and his JD-U, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) depends on Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) to garner the support of the Kurmi-Koeri (Luv-Kush) vote base.
The 243-member Bihar assembly is voting by October-November to elect a new government.
Reacting to this new alliance, former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has dropped strong hints that the BJP could be 'orchestrating the merger behind the scenes.
"Both of them were in JD(U), one a national vice president, the other a national president. Who is getting all this done and how it is happening, people of Bihar know everything," Tejashwi said while interacting with the journalists in Patna.
"If two rebels of JD(U) have come together, then everyone understands whose game this is. We don't need to say much. People are watching everything," he said.
RCP Singh is a 1984-batch IAS officer with 28 years of administrative experience. He first came in touch with Nitish in 2001 when the JD (U) chief was Union Minister of Railways Minister between 2001 and 2004. When Nitish became Bihar CM in 2005, RCP Singh was transferred to Bihar next year as a civil servant.
Later, Singh went on to be known one of the most powerful bureaucrat in Bihar and a key Nitish aide. In 2010, Singh took voluntary retirement from the civil services and formally joined the JD(U) where he went on to be known as an organisational man who functioned from behind the scene.
In 2018, Kishor, the political strategist-turned-politician joined the JD(U) as its national vice-president. It is said that Kishor's joining didn't go well with RCP Singh as he felt insecure. RCP Singh however continued to call the shots in the JD(U)
A 'cold war' ensued between Kishor and RSP Singh. Kishor quit the JD(U) in January 2020 and eventually launched his political party Jan Suraaj Party in October 2024
RCP Singh, however, rose to become the JD(U) national president. In July 2021, RCP Singh recommended himself for the lone Union Cabinet berth from the party's quota in the second Narendra Modi government. This perhaps upset Lalan Singh, the defacto number 2 in JD(U)
RCP Singh resigned from Union Cabinet in 2022 and later from the JD(U) after he was overlooked for renomination to the Rajya Sabha. RCP had been a Rajya Sabha member since 2010. Singh joined the BJP in May 2023. Nitish returned to the NDA in January 2024. Singh floated his Aap Sabki Awaaz Party last November.
After joining forces the two new friends in Bihar are expected to escalate their attack on Nitish Kumar. Kishor had planned to launch a signature campaign in Nalanda, protesting the state government's alleged failure to deliver on its promise of ₹ 2 lakh to 94 lakh poor families. However, he was barred from entering the village.
'As for impact on ground, I do not see that happening much. No matter what the perceptions says, Nitish Kumar is arguably the tallest Kurmi leader in Bihar as of now,' Tiwari said.
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