The Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll campaigns are likely to be the stage from where the pent-up sparks of the smouldering feud between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi could leap out as both the top NDA chief ministers and the alliance’s rival prime ministerial candidates are set to campaign for their respective competing parties.
Hand in hand in Bihar, but face to face in UP — this unexpected situation has already made Bihar’s ruling allies JD(U) and BJP feeling uneasy and speaking in wary, self-protective tones, each keen to hold their own party’s pride aloft but careful not utter anything that would ruffle their delicate Bihar alliance.
For JD(U) stalwart and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, his Gujarat counterpart and the BJP’s Hindutva icon has for long been both a blessing and a blemish, and Mr Kumar has managed to walk the political tightrope with little imbalance and few major damages so far in Bihar.
By keeping Mr Modi away from all poll campaigns of the NDA in Bihar, Mr Kumar succeeded in reflecting his revulsion for communal politics and thus won the hearts and votes of Bihar’s Muslims in successive polls since 2005. But he also continually faced the Opposition parties’ jibes, the BJP’s muted annoyance, and the Muslims’ constant watch and rising expectations ever since he became CM in 2005.
Mr Kumar returned in 2010 a `5-crore aid Mr Modi had given for Bihar floods and abruptly cancelled a dinner for the BJP’s top national leaders.
With Mr Modi still a sore point between the BJP and the JD(U) in Bihar and the two leaders set to be their respective parties’ star campaigners in UP, the apparent cold war between them over their prime ministerial ambitions could manifest in their speeches, say analysts.
Comparisons between Mr Kumar and Mr Modi have grown lately, mainly over the two states’ galloping GDPs, improved governance, Anna Hazare’s praise and their perceived ability to be India’s prime minister. But Mr Kumar and Bihar’s JD(U) leaders have been dismissive of all such comparisons, giving the unmistakable impression that Mr Kumar has no parallels in promoting communal harmony and thus he stands above Mr Modi.