Topic Of The Day:-“Plunger In A Churn: Nitish Kumar And Bihar Politics”
Nitish Kumar’s Manoeuvres Have Been Forcing Other Parties In Bihar Into Realignments
If politics in Bihar is in continual churn, then the plunger in the barrel is Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister and leader of the Janata Dal (United). Each time Mr. Kumar ditches an old friend or chooses a new ally, the other parties are forced into a realignment. The latest to shift camps is Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party. After the BJP and the JD(U) reached an agreement on sharing an equal number of seats for next year’s Lok Sabha election, the other allies of the BJP felt squeezed for space in the National Democratic Alliance. With the BJP, which won 22 of the 30 seats it contested in 2014, cutting down its own share of the seats in order to make room for the JD(U), both the RLSP, which won all its three seats in the last election, and the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan, which won six of its seven seats, were expected to do the same. But more than the LJP, the RLSP found the situation uncomfortable as Mr. Kushwaha had built his party in opposition to Mr. Kumar over the last five years. The BJP made no serious attempt to retain the RLSP within its fold, in a way glad that the pressure on the process of allocation of the 40 seats in Bihar would ease a bit. If the NDA got crowded after the entry of Mr. Kumar and the JD(U), the alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal remained a mahagathbandhan only in name. Both Mr. Kushwaha and Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former ally of the BJP, were easily accommodated by the RJD-Congress combine in the mahagathbandhan.
In a way, the exit of Mr. Kushwaha has strengthened the bargaining power of Mr. Paswan and the LJP. The LJP seems unwilling to surrender any of its sitting seats to accommodate the JD(U). Like many of the other parties in Bihar, the LJP has switched sides often, choosing between the Congress and the BJP on the basis of how it reads the political winds. With the RJD steadfastlywooing the LJP, the BJP has been trying hard to keep the party within the NDA. The bilateral agreement with the BJP was a victory of sorts for the JD(U). It was very much the senior partner in the NDA right until 2013, when it broke away from the BJP, protesting against the nomination of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. But since then the party appears to haveconceded a lot of ground to the BJP. Another change of alliance partners for the JD(U) is unlikely. As things stand, the RJD may not entertain such an option. The JD(U) has been the most important player in Bihar’s politics in the last 13 years, but Mr. Kumar’s room for politicalmanoeuvre is now severely limited. The plunger might have just done its last churn in the barrel.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) churn
Meaning : shake (milk or cream) in a machine in order to produce butter.
Synonyms : shaking
Antonyms : Still
Example : “the cream is ripened before it is churned”
2) plunger
Meaning : a person who gambles or spends money recklessly.
Synonyms : gamester
Antonyms : hesitator
Example : “he is a plunger when it comes to spending money for news”
3) ditches
Meaning : get rid of or give up.
Synonyms : gutters
Antonyms : ridges
Example : “plans for the road were ditched following a public inquiry”
4) ally
Meaning : a state formally cooperating with another for a military or other purpose.
Synonyms : associate
Antonyms : rival
Example : “debate continued among NATO allies”
5) squeezed
Meaning : firmly press (something soft or yielding), typically with one’s fingers.
Synonyms : compressed
Antonyms : expanded
Example : “Kate squeezed his hand affectionately”
6) contested
Meaning : engage in competition to attain (a position of power).
Synonyms : compressed
Antonyms : expanded
Example : “she declared her intention to contest the presidency”
7) retain
Meaning : continue to have (something); keep possession of.
Synonyms : keep
Antonyms : abandon
Example : “Labour retained the seat”
8) accommodated
Meaning : (of a building or other area) provide lodging or sufficient space for.
Synonyms : adapted
Antonyms : blocked
Example : “the cottages accommodate up to six people”
9) bargaining
Meaning : negotiate the terms and conditions of a transaction.
Synonyms : deal
Antonyms : give
Example : “he bargained with the local council to rent the stadium”
10) steadfastly
Meaning : in a resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering manner.
Synonyms : firmly
Antonyms : drolly
Example : “the manager steadfastly refused the offer”
11) sorts
Meaning : a category of things or people with a common feature; a type.
Synonyms : types
Antonyms : disturbs
Example : “if only we knew the sort of people she was mixing with”
12) conceded
Meaning : admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it.
Synonyms : approved
Antonyms : confronted
Example : “I had to concede that I’d overreacted”
13) manoeuvre
Meaning :a movement or series of moves requiring skill and care.
Synonyms : trick
Antonyms : tautness
Example : “snowboarders performed daring manoeuvres on precipitous slopes
