Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar’s decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on January 28 to form a new government in Bihar marked a pivotal and controversial moment in the state’s politics. The move left allies such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties in the lurch, complicating their strategy in a state with 40 Lok Sabha seats, which figures prominently in opposition plans to challenge the BJP in the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha elections.
Nitish’s political realignment—the fourth in roughly eight years—poses a significant challenge to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). His departure threatens the alliance’s attempts to mobilize the backward classes by highlighting their underrepresentation in government and bureaucracy, a key plank of the opposition’s strategy if voted to power.
Earlier, as Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish had successfully rallied support within the INDIA alliance to adopt a discourse centered on the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He argued that this strategy could fragment the BJP’s Hindu consolidation and persuaded even the centrist Congress, traditionally not focused on OBC politics, to embrace the approach.
Since then, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been pushing to reorient the party around backward class issues, despite internal warnings that such a focus could dilute attention from Dalit and tribal voters, who have been a traditional base for the party, and potentially alienate the limited upper-caste support the Congress still enjoys.
Nitish’s calculations appear aimed at triggering a political resurgence among OBC voters against the BJP-led Modi government, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where socialist parties have stronger grassroots networks to capitalize on backward class mobilization. The strategy, coupled with proposals such as removing the upper ceiling on reservations, was also designed to strengthen Nitish’s claim to leadership within the INDIA alliance, positioning him as a key contender for the top post in a potential coalition government.
