Hyderabad (Telangana): On a day when Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister for the eighth time in the state pulling JDU out of the NDA alliance and forming a new coalition with Congress and RJD, the obvious parallel that comes to mind is the day when Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGMP) severed ties with BJP before the 2017 Assembly polls.
In brief, MGP snapped ties with BJP just before the Assembly polls in 2017 and joined hands with Goa Suraksha Manch of RSS leader Subhash Velingkar and contested 27 seats in the state. The party did a similar thing in 2012 when it walked out of the alliance and joined hands with BJP. In 2012, they won three seats managing not only to retain their party symbol but also to become a part of the BJP-led coalition government.
However, in 2017, the party won three seats and as there was no clear majority for any party MGP going back to its pre-poll condition decided to support the BJP-led coalition on the precondition that former CM Manohar Parrikar who was serving as the Minister of Defence in the central ministry then be brought back to lead the government in Goa. The BJP agreed and MGP became a part of the Manohar Parrikar-led NDA government in Goa. Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Ajgaonkar of the MGP were given ministerial berths.
Also read: After taking oath, Nitish dares PM Modi: 'He won in 2014, but should worry about 2024'
In March 2019, Sudin was appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Goa along with Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai in the newly formed Government of Promod Sawant but nine days later he was dropped from the ministry when two MGP MLAs Manohar Ajgaonkar and Dipak Pawaskar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and reducing the tally of MGP to one. Soon Ajgaonkar was appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Goa making MGP insignificant in the politics of the state.
In December 2021, MGP agreed to a pre-poll alliance with the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) for the Goa election. MGP contested 13 constituencies in the 40-seat Goa Assembly and won two seats. The party naturally had no other alternative but to support BJP to form the government.
The alliance between JDU and BJP was made way back in 1996 when the then Samta Party had offered support to the 13-day BJP government at the Centre led by Atal Bihar Vajpayee. It was in 2000 when for the first time Nitish Kumar had become the Chief Minister of Bihar for a week as he failed to muster the majority and returned as a minister at the Centre in the government of Vajpayee.
After five years, both JD(U) and BJP contested the Assembly election in February 2005 but the government did not last long once again Assembly election was held in October 2005 and Nitish returned to power. In 2010, the coalition won a landslide victory in the Assembly poll.
It was the same year when Nitish for the first time got upset with BJP when a series of advertisements were published in which the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had offered a Rs 5 crore cheque to Nitish for Kosi flood relief in 2010. Miffed over that advertisement, Nitish had rejected Rs 5 crore cheque and had also canceled the dinner with the BJP leaders which had humiliated the saffron party most.
In 2015, Nitish contested the Assembly election in alliance with RJD and Congress but abruptly he made an exit from the alliance in July 2017. However, in less than 24 hours he returned as CM and formed the government with the support of the BJP dumping the Grand Alliance.
Now that Nitish has walked out of the alliance, snapping off the ties of nearly three decades it would be interesting to see how BJP reacts to the situation. With the most recent example of Maharashtra and Goa, there is an apprehension that the saffron brigade will pull out everything to destabilize the newly formed coalition. Nitish being a seasoned politician and one of the most cunning statesmen, it would be interesting to watch whether the Bihar man can sail the state out of the saffron deluge.
