00:00Suddenly got very dark and gray and it's going to rain.
00:03So we are heading back to Patna.
00:05Remember, there is another side to the Battle of Bihar.
00:10We've looked at the Tejasvi factor.
00:13What about the Nitish Kumar factor?
00:16India's chief minister who's been sworn in the maximum number of times.
00:30Now, Nitish Kumar has been chief minister of Bihar for almost 20 years with one small break.
00:40That's a tribute in a way both to his resilience and his relevance.
00:45Some would say his survival instincts.
00:48Whichever way you look at it, as Nitish Kumar approaches his 75th birthday,
00:53his critics say that Nitish Kumar now is controlled by Delhi
00:57and a coterie within his Jantadal United.
01:01How true is that allegation?
01:03We thought we'd catch up with one of those key aides of Nitish Kumar.
01:08Sanjay Kumar Jha, the Rajya Sabha MP and the working president of the JDU
01:13to find out what's the secret sauce of Hindi Heartland's longest serving chief minister.
01:21Namaskar Sanjay Ji, how are you?
01:24Lovely.
01:25You guys make a garden good in Patna, come, come.
01:28But tell me, is this the most difficult election in a way that you and Nitish ji are facing?
01:34Because when I met Tejasvi ji, they said that Nitish ji now is a puppet in the hands of a coterie
01:44and in the hands of Delhi.
01:48No, 2020 was a tougher election than this.
01:522020 was a tougher one because it was a backdrop of COVID.
01:55COVID, then alliance with the issues, most background, but this time the alliance is perfect.
02:02The response is perfect.
02:03His work is there in the ground.
02:05The response is very good.
02:06But this charge that he is physically ailing and now controlled by the Sanjay Jha's of the world and by the BJP, how true is that?
02:16It's absolutely false.
02:19Last two days, there was rain in Patna.
02:22They have a black past record.
02:25What do they have to say to you?
02:26I mean, Nitish Kumar ji has switched sides on more than one occasion.
02:39No, no, you have seen Bihar politics for long.
02:44Those who have seen that era of RJD and those who have seen Nitish Kumar's government, at least people like you have seen both the era.
02:55What difference, what difference, what difference, having a clean chief minister, Bihar have not seen?
03:18Governance, you travel Bihar road, if I name it, woman empowerment, probably best in the country.
03:27You mentioned women's empowerment.
03:29Now, the charge being made is this 10,000 rupees under the Mukhe Mantri Rozgar Yojana.
03:34It was given just one week before the elections and it's being given even while the election campaign is on.
03:40According to Tejasvi Yadav, this is a bribe.
03:43Or, you know, that in the middle of an election, you're giving 10,000 rupees to women.
03:47Is that not bribe?
03:48You elected for five years.
03:52Yes.
03:53Five years till the time election is announced, you have to work.
03:57That is the mandate.
03:58That is the same in the book of Sanbidhan.
04:00No, it is in Sanbidhan.
04:01No, it is in Sanbidhan.
04:02Is it morality that one week before the election, you announce a new scheme, 10,000 rupees, and you're giving the money just before elections?
04:09No, you have to see women's empowerment as well as how they have empowered them in the past five years.
04:15The other issue that I raised about being dictated by Delhi and that there is a coterie led by Sanjay Jha that takes decisions.
04:23No one can dictate Niti Kumar.
04:24But will he shift again after the election?
04:26There are two speculations, Sanjay Ji.
04:30One, that after the election, BJP will do an Eknath Shinde and appoint one of their own chief ministers and Niti Ji will not make it.
04:36Niti Kumar time and again has said publicly it was a mistake to leave the BJP.
04:45To leave the BJP.
04:46Public announcement had not once, maybe a dozen times he said.
04:52So, we are together.
04:55Sanjay Ji, you are now really, you know how to very carefully dodge all my bouncers, but Sanjay Ji has got a treat for us.
05:03He said that when you come to my house, you have to have a flavor of Bihar because this is elections on my plate.
05:09Have you made something for Bihar?
05:12Okay, let's have some Satu Paratha and then we are going to test the Niti Sh factor.
05:20Come with me.
05:33If NDA wins, Niti Sh Kumar chief minister 100%
05:42No question?
05:42100%
05:43Niti Sh Kumar will not be made Eknath Shinde?
05:45No, no, not at all.
05:46How do you describe the relationship between Niti Sh Kumar and Narendra Modi?
05:50Superb.
05:51Superb?
05:52Superb.
05:53Elections on my plate. This is what I have been missing.
06:12Our travels across Bihar have now brought us to Kalyan Bigha, the village of Chief Minister Niti Sh Kumar in the district of Nalanda.
06:33Now, Niti Sh Kumar has over the years projected himself as Sushasan Babu or a governance guru in contrast to a Lalu Prasad who was the charismatic populist.
06:45Niti Sh's vote bank has silently been cultivated among women voters or the Mahila vote in particular through a series of measures including Jivika didis who have set up self-help groups, many of whom have been provided 10,000 rupees each just before the elections.
07:04Will the woman vote stay with Niti Sh Kumar is a crucial question or has fatigue set in after 20 years in power?
07:13Let's try and find out in Niti Sh's home village.
07:17Niti Sh Kumar has a good job for 20 years.
07:41Hello Madam, how are you?
07:55Do you get this money or not?
08:01Do you get this money?
08:03Do you get this money?
08:06Yes, I do.
08:08Madam, what are you doing?
08:11Yes, but I don't get this money.
08:13Do you get this money?
08:14Why?
08:15I don't know.
08:16What will you do?
08:18I will do it.
08:19I don't know.
08:20I don't know.
08:21I don't know.
08:22I don't know.
08:23I don't know.
08:24For this?
08:25For this?
08:26Tell me.
08:27Is there any benefit from Nityish Kumar?
08:30Sir, it's like that.
08:32From Nityish Kumar, there is no benefit from Nityish Kumar.
08:37The run of the roads, they have covered.
08:39Yes, they did deliver.
08:40Yes.
08:41From Nityish Kumar, there are so many roads that are coming,
08:44and you have a road and your friends.
08:46Since the road has been over 20 years,
08:48is there something you've got done?
08:50Right now, nothing happened.
08:51Nothing happened.
08:52Nothing happened.
08:53Nothing happened.
08:54You're even here.
08:55You're getting 10,000 for a month.
08:56You're getting 10,000 for a month.
08:57You're getting their money.
08:58How are you getting your money?
08:59Hi, Mr. I'm a Muslim.
09:01I'm a Christian.
09:02I'm a Christian.
09:04I'm a Christian.
09:05I'm a Christian.
09:06Now, I'm a Christian.
09:07I'm a Christian.
09:08Mr. Mdome, as you said,
09:10Mr. Mdome, you're a chief minister,
09:13CM are Jivikadidin.
09:14What do you mean?
09:16I'm a community mobilizer.
09:18You're a community mixer.
09:19CM, you're not a chief minister,
09:20it's a community mobilizer.
09:22What do you think people think this is different?
09:24It's different.
09:25What is different between the parties?
09:27foreign
09:32foreign
09:52foreign
09:56No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
10:26No, no, no.
10:56No, no, no, no.
10:58No, no, no, no.
11:00No, no, no.
11:30No, no, no, no.
11:32No, no, no, no.
11:34No, no, no, no.
11:36No, no, no.
11:38No, no, no.
11:40No, no, no.
11:42No, no.
11:44No, no.
11:46No, no.
11:48No, no, no.
11:50Thank you very much.
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