No dispute in Mahagathbandhan on Tejashwi being CM face: Kanhaiya Kumar

Business Standard

2 days ago

Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday said if the ' Mahagathbandhan ' gets a majority in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, the chief minister will be from the RJD, and added that there was "no confusion or dispute" over Tejashwi Yadav being the main face for the CM's post.
Kanhaiya Kumar, however, asserted that issues would be paramount in the polls and there was "a conspiracy" by rivals to divert attention by raking up the matter of the coalition's CM face.
Claiming that as soon as the BJP gets a chance it will remove Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and replace him with its own leader in Bihar, Kumar alleged that the BJP is following its standard template -- to first take the support of a regional party and then "slowly swallow it".
In an interview with PTI, he claimed that "winds of change" are stronger than in the last assembly polls in Bihar and the BJP is not raking up Operation Sindoor as a poll plank because it knows that the people of Bihar will respond negatively to it as they believe it to be a matter of the country's honour and no party should politicise it.
Explaining the dynamics of the 'Mahagathbandhan' and rejecting the notion of senior and junior partners, Kumar said, "If you look at a car, the clutch is as important as the brake and the rearview mirror." "It is true that the RJD is the bigger party, has more MLAs, it provides leadership to the 'Mahagathbandhan', they have the post of leader of the opposition. Naturally, it is their responsibility.
"But all the constituent parties - now Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party is also part of the 'Mahagathbandhan' - everyone has their own role," said Kumar, who is among the most prominent faces of the Congress in Bihar," he said.
Asked how many seats the Congress will contest in the polls, Kumar said every party of the 'Mahagathbandhan', even the Congress, will contest on all 243 seats as a unit.
"The RJD, the Congress, Left parties and Sahani ji's party will all contest on 243 seats together. If the alliance is natural and issue-based, then it is not a matter of our and your seats. We will all contest the elections together. Whoever has a bigger responsibility will fulfil it and whoever has a smaller responsibility, it is also important to discharge that," Kumar said.
"If there is a pinch of salt less, the food will be tasteless and if there is a pinch of salt more, the food will not taste good. So everyone will play their role," he added.
On whether RJD's Tejashwi Yadav was the top contender for the post of chief minister if the 'Mahagathbandhan' comes to power, Kumar said, "There is no doubt about it. The public decides who will become the chief minister. The one who has the numbers will become the chief minister.
"Naturally, the RJD will contest on more seats and will win more seats. It will have the numbers and naturally, it will have a claim to the post of the chief minister, there is no doubt about this," he said.
It will happen automatically as per the process and there is no confusion on this in the alliance, Kumar said, adding that instead, there is confusion in the NDA ranks as to whether Nitish Kumar will be the CM face or not, and which party will contest how many seats.
He said people's issues are important for the election and there is an attempt to divert from those issues by repeatedly raising questions on the CM face.
"This is a conspiracy which we understand. There is no confusion and no doubt that the chief minister will be from the bigger party, it will be done automatically as part of the process. But what is important in the polls, are issues and not the face," Kumar told PTI.
Pressed further on the matter, the Congress leader said there was no doubt or dispute in the Mahagathbandhan on Tejashwi being its main CM face.
"There is absolute clarity on this...one by one things are happening in the 'Mahagathbandhan' as part of the process. A media group has been formed by all the parties, a manifesto committee has been formed, all the parties will decide the seats together.
"After the election, when the public will give a majority to the 'Mahagathbandhan', the RJD will contest more seats and win more, the chief minister will also be from that party," Kanhaiya Kumar said.
On speculation over Nitish Kumar's health and the BJP's strategy going forward, the Congress leader alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is an expert in finding "opportunities in disaster (aapda mein awsar)".
"See what happened in Maharashtra. He brought (Eknath) Shinde ji from the Shiv Sena and made him the chief minister. Then he removed him and made his own person the CM. It is not that he is trying this when Nitish ji is ill, he has tried it earlier also.
"For the last several decades, the BJP has wanted to do the same thing in Bihar which it has been successful in doing in Uttar Pradesh. That means, first take the support of a regional party and then slowly swallow it," he said.
The BJP has been trying to do this continuously in Bihar but has failed, he claimed.
"They are helpless that they cannot push Nitish ji behind.... This is an alliance of opportunities for power. As soon as the BJP gets a chance, they will remove Nitish ji and bring their own face. They are continuously attempting to do that," he said.
Exuding confidence that the 'Mahagathbandhan' would get a clear majority, Kumar said issues of unemployment, migration, education, farmers, rigging in examinations, and poor health infrastructure are paramount.
Kumar claimed that he expects the people to vote for change as the government is now being run by bureaucrats in a "dictatorial manner".
In the last assembly polls, the RJD, the largest constituent of the 'Mahagathbandhan', contested 144 seats and won 75 seats in the 243-seat assembly. The Congress had contested 70 seats, but it won only 19 seats. The CPI (ML) Liberation contested 19 seats and won 12 as part of the alliance. The Bihar Assembly polls are likely to take place around October-November.