‘Tiger abhi zinda hai’: JD(U) poster sparks buzz on Nitish Kumar's role post Bihar polls

As Bihar is all set for the counting of votes for the assembly elections on Friday, a Bollywood-style poster has been erected outside the JD(U) office in Patna, featuring Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with the caption ‘Tiger abhi zinda hai’ (Tiger is still alive).

 

The poster, which described the party supremo as the “protector” of all communities—dalits, mahadalits, backward classes, upper castes and minorities—was dedicated by party leader and former minister Ranjit Sinha.

 

Interestingly, it surfaced amid rumours of a rift between the JD(U) and its ally, the BJP, over the chief ministerial candidate. Even though the BJP has maintained that Nitish will lead the government if the NDA comes to power, speculations are rife that the saffron party may demand the top post if it gets a significantly higher number of seats in the alliance.

 

In 2020, Nitish offered to support a BJP candidate as chief minister after his party won only 43 seats, but the BJP, which bagged 74 seats, insisted he remain in the post. 

 

There has not been a major shift in the electoral arithmetic in the last five years, but the political tone has changed. According to reports, the saffron party is no longer ready to play second fiddle to the JD(U), which was evident in the seat-sharing agreement—the two parties contested an equal number of seats (101).

 

Meanwhile, the opposition has been targeting the ruling alliance over the alleged discord over the chief ministerial post, with both the RJD and the Congress claiming that the BJP will not allow Nitish to continue as CM.

 

Opposition's CM face Tejashwi Yadav has also claimed that JD(U) is not controlled by Nitish but by leaders "brought by the BJP". 

 

Polling to the 243-member assembly was held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the counting set to take place on November 14. 

India