Nitish Kumar has been anointed as the new kingmaker by the media. he needs to be wary of hubris and the voter.
“He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me....". There is many a Congress leader who could be playing this teen fantasy game while thinking about Nitish Kumar. Now that the DMK has done what it should have done about three years ago, Nitish Kumar becomes even more crucial. To borrow language from the ISI of Pakistan, Nitish Kumar and his party can provide "strategic depth" to the Congress when it faces an angry, frustrated and vengeful electorate in 2014 (if not earlier!). During his so called Adhikar rally organized in the capital, the Bihar Chief Minister gave enough hints that he, his vote bank and his allegiance could be up for grabs. So don't be surprised if the media keeps a relentless focus on Nitish Kumar and his future plans. In fact, his acolytes have stated a fantasy scenario that could called Nitish as Prime Minister. And why not, surely he has better credentials as a politician and administrator than Manmohan Singh, I.K. Gujral, H.D. Deve Gowda and V.P. Singh! If only a pesky upstart called Narendra Modi was not hovering on the horizon! But there is no mistake about this: Nitish Kumar is the favour of the season and the latest kingmaker of Indian politics.
But it might be instructive for the Bihar Chief Minister to read up on contemporary political history and learn some lessons. Kingmakers of Indian politics have a nasty habit of acquiring a common disease called hubris. And the Indian voter has a nasty habit of exposing kingmakers as emperors without clothes! Let's go back a bit to 1989 when V.P. Singh was riding the Bofors bandwagon towards power in Delhi. One of key charioteers of this bandwagon was the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N.T. Rama Rao who had acquired cult status as a film star, and who had humiliated the mighty Congress. He was the loudest and most vocal voice of an emerging anti Congress alliance across the country. And what happened then? V.P. Singh did manage to humble Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress to emerge as possibly the worst Prime Minister that India ever had (tough competition from Manmohan Singh!). But voters had something else in store for NTR. His party Telugu Desam was decimated and humiliated in the 1989 Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The kingmaker had lost his crown and throne.
In the tumultuous days of 1999 when a tea party enjoyed by Sonia Gandhi and J. Jayalalitha led to the collapse of the Vajpayee government which lost a no confidence motion by just one vote, Sharad Pawar emerged as the new kingmaker. Sensing an opportunity - something which he couldn't grab in 1991 when the Congress preferred a safe P.V. Narashima Rao to an ambitious Pawar - the Maratha strongman revolted against Sonia Gandhi and formed his own party called NCP. The calculations back then were quite clear. Kargil was yet to happen and not many expected the NDA led by Vajpayee to win a decisive victory. So there was every chance of a hopelessly hung parliament and who more qualified than Sharad Pawar to play kingmaker and dream of his own Kingdom? But the Indian voter had other ideas. Sharad Pawar was forced to eat humble pie and share power with the Congress in Maharashtra, failing to even have the NCP take the post of the Chief Minister. Vajpayee, of course, was voted back with a comfortable majority. Ever since, the halo around Sharad Pawar has been dimming consistently. Even his most loyal and die hard loyalist now knows that Pawar as Prime Minister is a fantasy.
“He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me....". There is many a Congress leader who could be playing this teen fantasy game while thinking about Nitish Kumar. Now that the DMK has done what it should have done about three years ago, Nitish Kumar becomes even more crucial. To borrow language from the ISI of Pakistan, Nitish Kumar and his party can provide "strategic depth" to the Congress when it faces an angry, frustrated and vengeful electorate in 2014 (if not earlier!). During his so called Adhikar rally organized in the capital, the Bihar Chief Minister gave enough hints that he, his vote bank and his allegiance could be up for grabs. So don't be surprised if the media keeps a relentless focus on Nitish Kumar and his future plans. In fact, his acolytes have stated a fantasy scenario that could called Nitish as Prime Minister. And why not, surely he has better credentials as a politician and administrator than Manmohan Singh, I.K. Gujral, H.D. Deve Gowda and V.P. Singh! If only a pesky upstart called Narendra Modi was not hovering on the horizon! But there is no mistake about this: Nitish Kumar is the favour of the season and the latest kingmaker of Indian politics.
But it might be instructive for the Bihar Chief Minister to read up on contemporary political history and learn some lessons. Kingmakers of Indian politics have a nasty habit of acquiring a common disease called hubris. And the Indian voter has a nasty habit of exposing kingmakers as emperors without clothes! Let's go back a bit to 1989 when V.P. Singh was riding the Bofors bandwagon towards power in Delhi. One of key charioteers of this bandwagon was the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N.T. Rama Rao who had acquired cult status as a film star, and who had humiliated the mighty Congress. He was the loudest and most vocal voice of an emerging anti Congress alliance across the country. And what happened then? V.P. Singh did manage to humble Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress to emerge as possibly the worst Prime Minister that India ever had (tough competition from Manmohan Singh!). But voters had something else in store for NTR. His party Telugu Desam was decimated and humiliated in the 1989 Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The kingmaker had lost his crown and throne.
In the tumultuous days of 1999 when a tea party enjoyed by Sonia Gandhi and J. Jayalalitha led to the collapse of the Vajpayee government which lost a no confidence motion by just one vote, Sharad Pawar emerged as the new kingmaker. Sensing an opportunity - something which he couldn't grab in 1991 when the Congress preferred a safe P.V. Narashima Rao to an ambitious Pawar - the Maratha strongman revolted against Sonia Gandhi and formed his own party called NCP. The calculations back then were quite clear. Kargil was yet to happen and not many expected the NDA led by Vajpayee to win a decisive victory. So there was every chance of a hopelessly hung parliament and who more qualified than Sharad Pawar to play kingmaker and dream of his own Kingdom? But the Indian voter had other ideas. Sharad Pawar was forced to eat humble pie and share power with the Congress in Maharashtra, failing to even have the NCP take the post of the Chief Minister. Vajpayee, of course, was voted back with a comfortable majority. Ever since, the halo around Sharad Pawar has been dimming consistently. Even his most loyal and die hard loyalist now knows that Pawar as Prime Minister is a fantasy.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
| ExecutiveMBA |
