Political Chess: Nitish Kumar's Potential Return to NDA Alarms Bihar BJP Ahead of 2019 Elections

In its quest for a "record victory" in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duopoly is said to have agreed to let Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar back into the NDA, despite opposition from the Bihar BJP.

According to insiders within India's governing party, Nitish, who had spearheaded the effort to bring the Opposition together against Modi, is ready to leave the INDIA bloc and re-align with the BJP.

The leader of Janata Dal United would thereafter take the oath of office as Bihar's chief minister for a seventh time, leading an NDA administration.

The sources said that all of these possibilities are probably going to come to pass in the next several days.

In a late-night meeting with Shah on Thursday, Bihar BJP leaders had voiced their concerns over realigning with the “unreliable” Nitish. They had said it would be foolish to put their confidence in Nitish once again and asserted that the state BJP was capable of unseating the Grand Alliance, which is now in power and consists of the JDU, RJD, Congress, and the Left, in an election.

It's been reported that Shah, who had before said that the BJP had "closed forever" to the "turncoat" Nitish, had listened to them without voicing his opinions. However, later on, according to insiders, he approved a new agreement with the JDU.

Shah met with other top BJP officials on Friday to finalize the realignment's specifics.

"In the political realm, doors are never completely closed. Following the meeting with Shah, Bihar BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said, "Doors are opened and closed according to the need of the hour."

Election considerations were the reason given by party sources for the decision to reestablish relations with Nitish.

According to BJP insiders, Modi is targeting a record-breaking third consecutive term in office with a large majority in order to surpass Rajiv Gandhi's all-time high of 414 seats won in the December 1984 elections.

"The BJP can easily win at least half of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar based only on Modi's popularity." A BJP senior said, "An alliance with Nitish can turn this into a clean sweep for the NDA."

However, it seems that Modi and Shah were more motivated politically by the potential effects on Opposition unity should Nitish win the leadership.

A BJP leader said, "Nitish's coming out will be a body blow to the INDIA bloc."