Why should the crisis in NCP worry Nitish Kumar?

New Delhi: Soon after the crisis erupted in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi claimed that the Janata Dal (United) of chief minister Nitish Kumar is on the verge of a split.

Modi buttressed his claim by insisting that there is dissatisfaction among a large number of JD(U) leaders, including Members of Parliament (MPs) and legislators as they are unsure of their re-nomination in the upcoming Lok Sabha and next assembly elections.

He elaborated that this anger grew manifold after Kumar announced Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav as his political heir.

It may be true or false but the fact remains that Kumar's party has become vulnerable after the exit of leaders like Upendra Kushwaha, RCP Singh and even allies such as Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Some months ago, RCP Singh had reportedly tried to engineer a split in the JD(U) but failed in his attempt apparently due to the chief minister's alertness. He pre-empted the move and denied a Rajya Sabha re-nomination to Singh thus forcing him to resign from the Union Council of Ministers.

In anticipation of any more dissensions within the JD(U), Kumar has now stepped up his engagements with the legislators and Members of Parliament (MPs). He has asked party colleagues about development work in their constituencies and directed them to stay in touch with the people.

Kumar is alarmed over the splits in a cadre-based party like the Shiv Sena and the NCP, headed by Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar. Kumar is an astute politician but so is Pawar. The veteran leader, who had in the past engineered many such revolts, couldn't prevent a split in his party despite knowing well that his nephew Ajit Pawar is disgruntled after being denied an organisational post in the recent reshuffle.

The Bihar chief minister is on the BJP radar, especially after he convened a meeting of the opposition parties in Patna on June 23 to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He is also among the contenders for the opposition's prime ministerial candidate. Will he be able to prevent a Shiv Sena-NCP kind of split in the JD(U)? Only time will tell.