Modi Rival Quits as Head of Key India State

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has unexpectedly gained power in a key Indian state after a burst of political drama, underscoring the depth of opposition disunity ahead of the next national election.

An alliance of opposition parties has fallen apart in Bihar, a state of around 100 million people, allowing Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to help form a government in yet another state. Nitish Kumar, regarded as a potential rival to Mr Modi in the next election due in 2019, resigned on Wednesday evening as Bihar’s chief minister. By yesterday, Mr Kumar had agreed to form a government with support from Mr Modi’s BJP, according to Sushil Modi, the BJP’s leader in Bihar. He was then sworn in by Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi in Patna, the state’s capital.

Mr Kumar, in power for 20 months, quit after days of tension between his Janata Dal (United) party and its local partner, Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. Mr Kumar had split with the BJP in 2013 and was part of an alliance that stood against the PM in the 2014 National Elections. An opposition grouping led by Mr Kumar won 73 per cent of Bihar’s 243 assembly seats in the 2015 state election- a rare defeat for Mr Modi’s BJP which has had a streak of wins in provincial polls since 2014.

Mr Kumar’s resignation and immediate return with BJP support erases Mr Modi’s loss to the socalled “grand alliance” of opposition parties in Bihar, which was viewed as a significant setback for Mr Modi and fueled speculation that Mr Kumar could lead a similar alliance against Mr Modi in 2019. The moves also bolsters Mr Modi’s hold on India’s powerful state governments.

His strategy of sowing discontent between Kumar and his allies in the Bihar assembly “has resulted in Kumar’s decision to exit the alliance,” said Eurasia Group analyst, Shailesh Kumar.

“This is on balance positive for Modi,” Mr Kumar said.

“For economic reforms, with the opposition in greater disarray, obstruction to Modi’s agenda and economic policy will wither further.”