Nitish Kumar's First Break-Up With Lalu Yadav: Anatomy Of A Political Divorce

In the last 25 years, Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister on nine occasions. He has seen through all possible alliances in the state -- with Lalu Prasad Yadav, without him and with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). While the two leaders have been fighting tooth-and-nail to keep each other from power, the last few rounds have gone in favour of Nitish Kumar, who has pulled some fast ones on his old friend-turned-foe. Not many know they were once together. 

In the mid-1970s, Jayaprakash Narayan's movement inspired students across Patna University and the city at large. Lalu, slightly senior, was already a popular student leader. Nitish, sharp and thoughtful, was learning. Together, they hoped to change a state long controlled by powerful elites.

The Rise Of Two Leaders

Lalu got a head start after he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977. Nitish tasted electoral victory a few years later, first as an MLA from Harnaut in 1985 and then as a Member of Parliament from Barh in 1989.

Their friendship appeared unshakable. Nitish was often called Lalu's "Chanakya". 

Growing Tensions

By the early 1990s, Lalu's rule in Bihar was centred around the Yadav community, controlling jobs, contracts, licences, and the public sector.

The Supreme Court approved the Mandal Commission's recommendations in 1992. The largest backward caste, the Yadavs, took the lion's share, leaving other communities scrambling for the remainder.

The Kurmi Chetna Rally

In February 1994, tensions came to a head at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The "Kurmi Chetna Rally" was a show of long-held frustration, a call for justice under the banner of caste identity.

Lalu, holed up at 1 Aney Marg with his aides, anxiously asked a plainclothes officer over a walkie-talkie, "Aaya ji Nitishwa? Pata lagao kahan hai. (Has Nitish arrived? Find out where he is)", according to Sankarshan Thakur's book 'Single Man: The Life and Times of Nitish Kumar of Bihar'.

Around 3 pm, Nitish climbed the stage; his voice rang out, "Bheekh nahin, hissedari chahiye. Jo sarkar hamare hiton ko nazarandaz karti hai, who sarkar satta mein reh nahin sakti. (We don't want charity; we want our rightful share. A government that ignores our interests cannot stay in power.)"

He demanded a government which represented all backward communities, not just the Yadavs. The split was official.

New Beginnings

In 1994, Nitish Kumar formed the Samata Party with George Fernandes and allied with the BJP, contesting elections with mixed results. Lalu, riding the Mandal wave, stayed in power through the 1990s, even making his wife, Rabri Devi, Chief Minister in 1997 after the fodder scam forced him to step down. Lalu quit the Janata Dal and formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Nitish, after several setbacks, ended 15 years of the so-called "jungle raj" in Bihar with the JD(U)-BJP alliance's triumph in 2005.

Reunion

In 2014, the two former foes reunited on stage during a rally in Hajipur, recalling the camaraderie of their early years. They formed the Mahagathbandhan, registering a spectacular victory in the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections.

Within two years, the biggest political experiment, which had fetched them results, crumbled. Nitish quit the Mahagathbandhan and joined the NDA in 2017. Just when political observers thought Nitish wouldn't go anywhere, he quit NDA to form an alliance with RJD again in 2022, only to return to the BJP ahead of the 2024 elections.

For now, they are ready for another showdown in Bihar.