Patna, 5 Mar

JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's "wish to become a Rajya Sabha member" has paved the way for the formation of a new government, with the BJP now appearing poised to have its "own CM" in the only Hindi heartland state where the post has eluded the party.

The writing had been on the wall ever since the BJP emerged as the single largest party, with 89 seats, in the Assembly polls held less than four months ago, outperforming the JD(U) for the second time after 2020.

The swearing-in ceremony verily looked like a BJP affair, with the party getting a lion's share in the new council of ministers and the all-important Home portfolio. The function was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a number of their cabinet colleagues, besides CMs of several states ruled by the BJP.

RJD national working president Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, told reporters, "The BJP has done a Maharashtra in Bihar. It is a party that has always been opposed to Dalits and OBCs. Now, it will seek to implement its agenda in the socialist stronghold."

Notably, Kumar, like Yadav’s father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, has been a product of the Mandal churn of the 1990s, which ended the dominance of upper castes in Bihar politics.

Speculations are rife that the BJP, too, may go for a CM from the weaker sections, mindful of the social realities.

Among the names doing the rounds for the CM's post is Samrat Choudhary, whom Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP's veritable principal strategist, had vowed to make "a big man" during the Assembly poll campaign.

Choudhary, currently a Deputy CM with the crucial portfolio of Home, is a Koeri, an OBC caste which has been sore over never having its "own chief minister".

However, it remains to be seen whether the party, known to put a premium on ideology, would be willing to place more trust in Choudhary, who had started off with the RJD and joined the BJP less than a decade ago.

Another name that is doing the rounds is that of Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a Sangh Parivar veteran who started off as a fiery ABVP activist when the Ayodhya movement was at its peak.

Rai is a Yadav, the most populous of all castes in Bihar, which has so far been aligned with Lalu Prasad and his RJD.

According to BJP sources, his elevation is "fraught with the risk of annoying the upper castes and alarming the numerically small Kurmis, the caste to which Nitish Kumar belongs, besides extremely backward classes, as these social groups consider the Yadavs to be too aggressive".

BJP sources also admit that the next CM of Bihar could be one of the less fancied leaders of the party, as was seen recently in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Odisha.

A BJP leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "We must not completely rule out the possibility of an upper caste chief minister. We have demonstrated that the BJP has a place for all. But the Mandal agitation had given rise to an unhealthy impression that henceforth the post of CM in states shall be out of bounds for the upper castes."

"The BJP has successfully changed that perception in UP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, where the caste dynamics are very much in place, but the top post was given on merit. There is no reason why it should not be the case in Bihar as well, given the fact that we have decimated casteist parties like RJD in the last assembly polls," he added.

Meanwhile, the JD(U) is in turmoil, with a diminution in its clout almost certain. It is being speculated that Nitish Kumar's son Nishant, whose entry into politics was announced two days back, notwithstanding the father's aversion to "dynasty politics", could be accommodated as a Deputy CM.

A JD(U) leader, who did not wish to be named, however, said, "Things are never going to be the same again for us. All ministers in our party, even if these include the son of 'saheb' (Nitish Kumar) shall now have to depend on the BJP's goodwill for survival."