Kejriwal should take a leaf out of Nitish, Soren’s book

The decision of Arvind Kejriwal to resign as Delhi chief minister and have a new CM is fraught with risk. Such is the lust for power, and given the grave complex political situation in almost every state, one can draw a lesson or two from the other two chief ministers who did the same.

In 2014, Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar chief minister following the poll debacle in the Lok Sabha elections that year and anointed Jitan Ram Manjhi as his successor. Nitish opted for Manjhi as he was considered a pliable leader, who would never throw a challenge to the JD (U) strongman and vacate the chair as and when asked for.

The chair matters

It has been said, "Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.". This was quite apparent in Bihar between May 2014, when Manjhi was sworn in as the CM, and February 2015, when he was unceremoniously removed as CM and thrown out of the party.

In all these nine months when Manjhi was at the helm, Nitish was treated as the de facto CM, though her resigned to show that he cared more for propriety than power. Kejriwal is trying to build almost the same narrative today.

Within months, Nitish realised it was his foolish decision to quit as Bihar CM and appoint Manjhi as his successor as the 2014 Lok Sabha verdict was more in favour of Narendra Modi and not exactly against Nitish as it was not an assembly election.

Having realised his folly, Nitish wanted the CM chair back, but Manjhi, by that time, had started asserting himself, and was not ready to play second fiddle to anyone. He even ignored Nitish and JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav's plea to step down. As the situation became messy, the JD (U) Legislature Party meeting was eventually convened where Nitish was elected leader and sworn-in as Bihar CM again in February 2015. Predictably, Manjhi was shown the door, who later formed his own party Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM). That he became a Union minister in June 2024 after being the sole HAM MP from Bihar is altogether a different story.

Jharkhand mess

Almost ten years down the line, the story repeated in Jharkhand where Hemant Soren, who resigned as the chief minister on January 31, 2024, and appointed Champai Soren as his successor, found it a messy affair to retrieve his chair when he came out of jail after getting bail.

Before his remand, it was speculated that Hemant might anoint his wife, Kalpana Soren, as his successor till he was enlarged on bail. But at the same time, he had a Bihar story in mind where Lalu, before being sent to jail, appointed Rabri Devi, then a home-maker, as the Bihar CM.

Hemant never wanted to draw flak for such a decision and be charged with nepotism. As is the case with Kejriwal today, Hemant, too, tried to prove that he cared more for propriety and was not lusting for power. He handed over the reins of Jharkhand to one of the senior-most ministers and a legislator for three decades, Champai Soren. Champai, a tall leader from Kolhan region of Jharkhand, had been associated with the JMM since its inception.

What Nitish thought of Manjhi, Hemant, too, had a similar perception about Champai and hoped the latter would vacate the chair once his legal problems were over. But in both cases, the respective CMs, once got a taste of the top executive post in the state, were reluctant to hand over power to their mentor.

So, much like in Bihar, the meeting of JMM Legislature Party was convened once Hemant was released from jail and elected him as their new leader on July 3 this year. Dismayed, Champai put in his papers, while Hemant was sworn in as CM in a hurriedly-convened event at the Raj Bhawan before the BJP could fish in the troubled waters. The BJP continued with its poaching game and eventually lured Champai to jump the fence from JMM to the BJP.

Three things were common in the above two cases. One, the outgoing CM appointed their confidant as the successor. Second, the successors, after tasting power, were no more pliable. Third, Nitish and Hemant found it quite tough to retrieve the CM chair.

It’s high time that Kejriwal, before taking any decision, should take a leaf from Nitish and Hemant’s book.