With coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world taking over 200,000 lives worldwide and claiming about 1800 lives in India as of this writing on Saturday; and the entire nation, like most parts of the world, in a state of lockdown, there is one individual in Bihar who has managed to shield himself from the virus attack better than any person in the state, or maybe even in the entire nation.
Yes, it's none other than our brave leader Nitish Kumar who is very comfortably ensconced in his posh 1 Anne Marg residence away from any threat just being the loyal soldier of Amit Shah who orders him to roll over on the floor or to fetch the newspaper and the Bihar Chief Minister does as Shah wishes so as not to raise the ire of his kingmakers.
It is a fact now that Nitish Kumar has not only been missing in action but he has completely surrendered to the whims of his protectors, a.k.a. the BJP powerhouse at the Center, lest he is shown the door in this year's state elections – one position that he cherishes and holds very dear to his chest.
Like a powerful drug, being in power is what drives and motivates the JD-U chief who has all but forgotten his role as the leader of the state where the buck supposedly stopped with him. With all the government offices shut down, coronavirus couldn't have come at a better time for the Chief Minister who was already showing sign of weariness and fatigue allowing him some much needed respite to withdraw in his safe space away from the headache of running the state while also shielding himself from the pesky reporters and ever-nagging opposition leaders.
What has really come as a shock to many, Kumar, in a complete surrender to Modi-Shah's diktat of complete lockdown, refused to come to the help of Bihari students and migrant workers stranded in Kota and other parts of the country saying it would be a violation of the basic principle of the lockdown.
This when Modi-Shah's biggest lackey and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in complete defiance of the lockdown, sent fleet of buses to Kota to bring back students stuck in their dorms unable to return home to be safe with their families.
"(Trying to bring the students across state border) will be doing injustice with the principle of lockdown," the man with an excuse for every occasion, said last week.
Sadly, even while saying so, he was lying and working secretly to bring back the son of a BJP leader stranded in Kota by granting special permit to a vehicle. The BJP leader in question is Anil Singh, a legislator from Nawada and the permit allows the vehicle to go to Kota and bring back his daughter safely back to Nawada.
Later, when Kumar got hit by criticism from all sides, he, in his typical 'never-take responsibility' fashion, denied having the knowledge of the incident and ordered the sacking of the hapless civil servant who issued a travel pass to the BJP legislator to drive to Kota.
As evidenced by many, governance for the past two months in Bihar has come to a standstill with the Chief Minister being reduced to a man hiding behind the safety of his home trying to run the state by phone while abandoning any pretense of leadership in the time of the biggest crisis of one's lifetime.
This is not the same Nitish Kumar who once canceled a dinner date with Narendra Modi saying Modi had blood on his hand due to Gujarat riots. This is not the same Nitish Kumar who pestered the Center for special economic status by organizing rallies after rallies and yatras after yatras. This is not the same Nitish Kumar who once billed himself as the 'Sushasan Babu' who was only interested in the development of Bihar.
Fact is, this is the Nitish Kumar who is interested in one thing and one thing alone – cling to power by hook or by crook, principles be damned.
