PATNA: JD(U) leader and Bihars water resources minister Sanjay Kumar Jha on Friday said CM Nitish Kumar is the most credible OBC face in politics who remains the principal pole of Bihar politics and would never be playing a second fiddle to anybody.Rebutting some BJP leaders recent demand that Nitish retire from politics in the wake of his controversial remarks in the assembly over birth control, Jha said the CM is a towering leader not only in Bihar but has also been setting agenda in national politics.He (Nitish) introduced reservation for EBCs and women in panchayats and local bodies and has followed that up by now enhancing the quota for OBCs to 65% and by putting the Centre in a fix with his demand for putting the newly enacted law beyond judicial scrutiny by placing it in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.
He has been setting the agenda, Jha said in an exclusive conversation with TOI.Bihars water resources minister Sanjay Kumar Jha refuted the suggestion that Nitish was past his prime and JD(U), dropping to the third spot in the assembly, may end up as the B-Team of RJD.
You are mistaken.
Nitish can never be the B-team of any grouping, be it any party of the grand alliance or NDA, he said.Sanjay JhaThe assertion of the Nitish confidant may be significant in view of Congress bid to muscle in on the OBC turf by suddenly embracing the demand for a caste count and jitni abaadi utna haq slogan (entitlement based on population).Jha also refuted the suggestion that Nitish was past his prime and JD(U), dropping to the third spot in the assembly, may end up as the B Team of RJD.
You are mistaken.
Nitish Kumar can never be the B-team of any political grouping, be it any party of the grand alliance or NDA or any other alliance.
Nitish would always be the face of the alliance he chooses to be part of, he said.Questioning the assessment about Nitishs diminution, he said, Nitish is like the phoenix who has unfailingly bounced back whenever people wrote him off.
Those who have rushed to conclude that Nitishs stint in politics is over, must correct themselves as the Bihar CM has with his recent boldness already emerged as the agenda setter.Recalling the 38-year long electoral politics of the Bihar CM, Jha said Nitish lost two consecutive assembly elections in 1977 and 1980 in the initial years of his electoral politics.
By conventional standards, it should have spelt the end of his innings.
But in a few years, he emerged like a phoenix and not only won the 1985 assembly elections but also became an important figure in opposition politics.Jha also recalled Nitishs stint as Union minister in the Vajpayee government, holding important cabinet portfolios like railways.