Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Changing partners: On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his recurrent political somersaults

Changing partners: On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his recurrent political somersaults

Nitish Kumar’s unedifying volte-faces are an insult to voters of Bihar

Ideological infidelity (बेवफ़ाई) is not a rare affliction (Something that makes you suffer) among career politicians. Power, wealth and the many vices that often motivate political actors are not unfamiliar to Indian voters. Even by these low standards, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appears to be plumbing new depths with his recurrent somersaults (कलाबाज़ी). He has changed partners multiple times, with little more reasoning than satisfying his desire for power. Mr. Kumar’s about-turn in 2017 betrayed the mandate of 2015 and in 2022, he betrayed the mandate of 2020. In 2020, Mr. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had won the election in alliance (गठबंधन) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but two years later he broke from it to form an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. That was a clear insult of the mandate. He has now made yet another turn, this time returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Within the day, he resigned as Chief Minister, claimed the post again with new partners, and was sworn-in again as Chief Minister. Only a few weeks ago, Mr. Kumar was fashioning himself as the leader of the anti-BJP Opposition alliance. It might be true that politics makes for strange bedfellows, but Mr. Kumar has turned his acts of disloyalty (विश्वासघात, बगावत) into a familiar script. Meanwhile, his claim of being a champion of good governance appears so distant (दूर) in the past, and completely unfamiliar.

Until the moment of the turnaround (A positive change; improvement), the BJP was loudly proclaiming (घोषणा करना) that it would never again align with Mr. Kumar and the JD(U). There is no explanation from either side on their sudden change of heart. Mr. Kumar had tried to corner the BJP on the question of caste, in alliance with the RJD and the Congress. The socio-economic survey of castes in Bihar that his previous government ordered did not turn out to be a watershed moment as Mr. Kumar perhaps hoped. At the same time, the BJP felt insecure (असुरक्षित) enough to look for a rapprochement (मेल-मिलाप, मैत्री) with the JD(U), which commands considerable (महत्वपूर्ण, विचारणीय) following among non-Yadav Other Backward Classes in Bihar. The opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya marked a new phase of Hindu consolidation (एकीकरण) behind the BJP, but the party is always watching out for erosion triggered by caste mobilisation. By redrafting Mr. Kumar, the BJP has defanged (Rendered harmless or ineffectual) the limited potency (क्षमता, प्रभाव) that was left in his social justice politics. The BJP is the biggest beneficiary (लाभार्थी) of the realignment (पुनर्निर्माण करना) in Bihar, while the biggest loser might be Mr. Kumar himself. His political base is being raided, and his legacy stands besmirched (To say bad things about someone to influence other people’s opinion of them). But, he is still the Chief Minister, and nothing else seems to matter to him. It is not exactly future perfect, but it is happily present continuous.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Infidelity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बेवफ़ाई
English Meaning - The action or state of being unfaithful.

2.Somersaults (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कलाबाज़ी
English Meaning - To turn over completely, or to make something do this.

3.Alliance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गठबंधन
English Meaning - An agreement to work with someone else to try to achieve the same thing.

4.Disloyalty (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विश्वासघात, बगावत
English Meaning - The fact of not supporting someone that you should support.

5.Proclaiming (verb)

Hindi Meaning - घोषणा करना
English Meaning - To announce something publicly or officially, especially something positive.

6.Insecure (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - असुरक्षित
English Meaning - Not safe or not protected.

7.Rapprochement (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मेल-मिलाप, मैत्री
English Meaning - An agreement reached by opposing groups or people.

8.Considerable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - महत्वपूर्ण, विचारणीय
English Meaning - Large or of noticeable importance.

9.Consolidation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - एकीकरण
English Meaning - The process of becoming or being made stronger and more certain.

10.Potency (noun)

Hindi Meaning - क्षमता, प्रभाव
English Meaning - Strength, influence, or effectiveness.

11.Beneficiary (noun)

Hindi Meaning - लाभार्थी
English Meaning - A person or group who receives money or other benefits as a result of something else.

12.Realignment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पुनर्निर्माण करना
English Meaning - The act of putting something, or the fact of being put, into a new or correct position, or an instance of this.

13.Distant (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दूर
English Meaning - Used to describe someone who does not show much emotion and is not friendly.

14.Affliction (noun)

English Meaning - Something that makes you suffer.

15.Turnaround (noun)

English Meaning - A positive change; improvement.

16.Defanged (noun)

English Meaning - Rendered harmless or ineffectual.

17.Besmirched (noun)

English Meaning - To say bad things about someone to influence other people’s opinion of them.