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Not only the Wakf Board Bill, there are other reasons behind Nitish Kumar’s silence

So far, it is understood that BJP has the support of its two most important allies JDU and Telugu Desam Party regarding the Waqf Board Amendment Bill. BJP is excited by the statement given by Union Minister and JDU leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh in support of the NDA government’s Waqf Board Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. But differences are constantly coming to the fore in JDU regarding this bill. The Indian Express has written quoting its sources that Nitish Kumar is not said to be happy with this bill. Meanwhile, BJP has also decided not to implement the Supreme Court’s decision on Dalit sub-quota. Nitish Kumar was the first to bring the concept of Mahadalit among Dalits in the country’s politics. Obviously, he must have also felt bad that the Supreme Court’s decision is not being implemented. Perhaps this is the reason why the Chief Minister of Bihar is rarely seen on public forums these days. Along with this, he is also maintaining distance with journalists. Let us see what could be the reasons due to which Nitish Kumar is looking aloof these days.

1- Heart is not matching on Wakf Board Bill

Those who understand Nitish Kumar’s politics or those who know his politics of the last three decades understand how much importance he gives to Muslim votes. He has definitely gone with the BJP but he never gave up the hope of Muslim votes. That is why he always seems to be trying to stand with the minorities on every issue. He distanced himself from the NDA for the first time because of Narendra Modi. He always took a different stand from the BJP on the issue of CAA. According to the Indian Express, he is not happy with the BJP on the issue of Waqf Board. This is the reason why on Friday, Kumar’s close leader, Bihar’s Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary tried to take a different stand by welcoming the government’s decision to send the bill to the JPC. Express writes that Lallan Singh’s statement on the Waqf Bill in JD (U) has created confusion among the common workers of the party. Vijay Chaudhary says that since there were misunderstandings and apprehensions among the minority community, we welcome the Center’s decision to hand over the bill to the joint committee. It has been the declared stand of the party to deal with issues related to minorities with sensitivity.

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Muslim leaders of the JD(U), who were already expressing their concerns over the bill, have started coming out to express their disagreement against the bill after Choudhary’s statement. JD(U) leader and former MLC Gulam Gaus said, “There are legitimate concerns among Muslims about the Waqf Amendment Bill. This is because of the lack of trust in the current government at the Centre. It is good that it has been sent to the joint committee for review.”
JD(U) national general secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi said, We oppose the Waqf Amendment Bill and want to know whether the Centre proposes to bring a similar law in the matters of temples and monasteries?

Quoting a senior JDU leader, the Indian Express writes that CM Nitish Kumar is not very happy with what Lallan Singh said in support of the bill. Even in the case of Uniform Civil Code, we had given our representation before the Law Commission saying that we are in favour of reforming Muslim laws, but some religious issues related to them should be dealt with extreme caution. Lallan Singh’s stand has created a lot of confusion among the party workers. But now that the matter has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Panel, we support it, which can be called our party’s stand.

2- BJP’s stand on Dalit quota is not like JDU’s

Nitish Kumar and JDU were very excited by the Supreme Court’s decision on the Dalit sub-quota on August 1. In fact, Nitish Kumar had brought the concept of Mahadalit in 2007. The Nitish government has made several separate schemes for the Mahadalit castes in Bihar. Nitish Kumar also made a separate quota in the OBC quota. In 2023, he made a law to increase separate reservations for backward and extremely backward classes. Nitish Kumar has been the true messiah of quota within quota. Obviously, his hopes must have been dashed when the central government refused to implement the decision of Dalit sub-quota. Even before this, Nitish Kumar was the first in the country to conduct caste census in Bihar and provide reservation according to population. But the matter of increasing reservation got stuck in the Supreme Court. Obviously, Nitish Kumar missed out on getting the credit for this.

3- Is Nitish confused by BJP’s silence on Prashant Kishor?

Many political analysts of Bihar believe that Nitish Kumar is also troubled by Prashant Kishore’s attacks. Prashant Kishore not only attacks Tejashwi and Lalu Yadav, but now he is not sparing Nitish Kumar either. RJD leaders counter attack Prashant Kishore by calling him BJP’s B team, but Nitish Kumar cannot even say this. On the other hand, BJP has maintained a mysterious silence on Prashant Kishore’s activities. Prashant Kishore has announced that he will give 40 tickets to women. It is clear that Nitish Kumar is the most popular among women. Prashant Kishore is making inroads into women voters. RJD’s state president Jagadanand Singh has already written a letter to his workers warning them to stay away from Jan Suraj. Despite this, RJD has had to expel more than half a dozen of its leaders from the party. It is clear that the pressure on JDU is also increasing continuously regarding Prashant Kishore.

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Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)

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