The Stage is Set: A Rally for Unity, A Funeral for an Alliance
Patna’s Gandhi Maidan has long been the crucible of Indian political history, witnessing everything from Jayaprakash Narayan’s call for ‘Total Revolution’ to countless political coronations. But on August 27, 2017, the historic ground became the stage for a public, political divorce, sealed with a single, caustic question that echoed across the sea of humanity: “Aaya Ji Nitishwa?” (Did Nitish-wa come?).
The event was the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) mega “Desh Bachao, BJP Bhagao” (Save the Country, Oust the BJP) rally. The irony was thicker than the humid monsoon air. A rally designed to showcase a united opposition against the BJP ended up being the unofficial funeral ceremony for the very ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) that had resoundingly defeated the BJP in Bihar just two years prior.
The Political Earthquake: Nitish Kumar‘s Shock Exit
The rally’s central ghost was the man who wasn’t there: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Just a month earlier, in a move that stunned the nation, he had severed ties with the RJD and the Congress. Citing corruption allegations against his then-deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, he walked out of the alliance one evening and was sworn in as Chief Minister with BJP support the very next morning. The political earthquake had already happened, but this rally was the deafening aftershock.
Lalu’s Masterstroke: The Taunt Heard Across Bihar
On stage, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was in his element. The master orator, with his unmatched rustic wit, held the crowd in a trance. He didn’t just address them; he performed. And his lead actor was the absent Nitish Kumar.
When the mocking question, “Aaya Ji Nitishwa?”, was hurled from the stage and chanted by the crowd, it was more than just a taunt. The “-wa” suffix in the Bihari dialect is a colloquial, often dismissive, way of referring to someone. It was a public stripping of respect, a declaration that Nitish, the former partner, was now just another adversary.
From ‘Sushasan Babu’ to ‘Paltu Ram’: The Narrative of Betrayal
Lalu expertly painted Nitish’s move as the ultimate betrayal—a betrayal of the 2015 mandate given to the Mahagathbandhan to keep the BJP out of power. For the lakhs of RJD supporters gathered, Nitish Kumar was no longer ‘Sushasan Babu’ (Mr. Good Governance); he was ‘Paltu Ram’, the perennial turncoat who had opportunistically returned to the BJP’s fold. This narrative would stick for years to come.
A Show of Strength and a Son’s Anointment
The rally served a dual purpose for the RJD. Firstly, it was a massive show of strength. By filling the iconic Maidan, Lalu sent a clear message: with or without Nitish, his connection with his core vote bank was intact. Secondly, it was the formal anointment of his son, Tejashwi Yadav, as the undisputed leader of the opposition. Sharing the stage with other national opposition figures like Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi was positioned as the new face of the fight in Bihar.
The Aftershock: Drawing the Battle Lines for Bihar
In hindsight, the “Aaya Ji Nitishwa?” rally was a pivotal moment. It officially drew the battle lines for the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2020 Assembly elections. For Nitish Kumar and the JD(U), their absence was a statement in itself—a silent confirmation that they had chosen a different path with the BJP.
The question asked that day at Gandhi Maidan was rhetorical. Everyone knew Nitish wasn’t there. But by asking it so publicly, Lalu Prasad Yadav turned his absence into a powerful symbol of a political promise broken, transforming a rally into the final, bitter chapter of a famed and fraught political partnership.
