Cong, Left woo Nitish with an eye on post-poll alliance

Be it the third front or even the Congress, chief minister Nitish Kumar is increasingly becoming the much sought after politician in Bihar. The words of appreciation for Nitish Kumar coming from different political quarters are widely perceived to be a ploy for enlisting his support for the post-poll government formation exercise at the centre.

Although the chief minister has rubbished such speculation making it clear that he will not engage in any such an exercise, the non-NDA groups, particularly those from the Congress and the Left parties continue to throw bait to him much to the annoyance of the BJP.

"The JD(U) is part of the NDA which stands a good chance of forming the government at the centre. It is nice of them (non-NDA leaders) to speak in laudatory terms about the development works in Bihar, but this should not confuse people to believe that I will do business with them in the post poll scheme of things," the chief minister said to clarifying his stand.

The Congress on Tuesday again drummed on their willingness to woo the chief minister. And, all this came from the AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi who openly threw the offer to the chief Nitish Kumar who indicated though that he was not willing to play ball with the Congress.

The pro-Nitish signals sent out by his political rivals have certainly been hurting the RJD-LJP camps as all these development have come at a time when the state is still not finished with the election process. A thinking has been set in motion in political circles that this could adversely impact the political fortunes of the candidates mainly those from the LJP and the RJD. "The NDA could be a gainer if the Congress and Left parties have something good to speak about the chief minister, " remarked a poll watcher, adding that elections to three more seats are not yet over.

The Congress and the Left leaders are perhaps given to the belief that the JD(U) is expected to do quite well in the Lok Sabha elections and Nitish Kumar with the requisite numbers will be a far better political option as opposed to Lalu-Paswan duo "both of whom may not be a favorite with the electorate this time". Besides, Nitish Kumar has not lost out on his secular credentials even though he has been running the NDA government in Bihar with the saffron party. This certainly holds him in good stead and not surprisingly both Congress and Left parties have demonstrated their willingness to do political business with him.

On the other hand, the Congress which has gone solo in the elections has been coming down hard on the RJD-LJP combine . "Both the RJD and the LJP will suffer major electoral reverses this time largely because the Congress is no more with them," the union minister of state for home and senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad said.
Interestingly, Lalu has been publicly claiming that both he and Ram Vilas Paswan were still part of the UPA even though Congress leaders have been insisting that there will be "no entry for them this time in the union cabinet".