In 2022, when the JD-U formed the government with the support of the RJD, it gave away the education portfolio that had been with it since 2005, when Nitish first took oath as CM of the state. However, Chandrashekhar was never at ease in the department and kept sparking controversy through his remarks and actions. At one point, the situation was so bad that he stopped going to his department for nearly a month and met his party chief, Lalu Prasad to seek his intervention.

Relegated to a titular head, his department hit headlines under additional chief secretary (ACS) KK Pathak, particularly around the mega appointment of school teachers. Earlier this month, Pathak suddenly went on leave, relinquishing charge of his department and the CM office had to intervene to persuade him to withdraw the extension of leave. He did so, and within a couple of days, the portfolio re-jig sent the minister to take charge of the sugarcane department.

“There is no question that Chandrashekhar’s position has been downsized, but it cannot happen without the support of Lalu Prasad. Though Alok Mehta got education, he had to leave an equally important department of land reforms & revenue. Mehta was also at the receiving end of Nitish last year when his department’s transfers and postings were stayed. Lalu Prasad is waiting, as he does not want to give Nitish Kumar any opportunity to walk out or align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or even plan dissolving the House for simultaneous state and national elections. For the RJD, 2025 Assembly elections will be more important and the party wants to tread cautiously,” said a senior RJD leader, who did not want to be quoted.

He said that the change of guard in education department might also be due to the ‘credit-war’ over bulk appointments in the education sector.

“The vacancies were there for a long time, but it is only after the Grand Alliance government was formed that the government started showing a sense of urgency. RJD had made it an election issue in 2020. However, Nitish Kumar has been particular about showcasing it as his government’s achievement. He projects it as part of the government’s 7-Resolves that has continued despite change in alliance partners [the JD-U was earlier allied with the BJP]. He also expressed displeasure over some RJD leaders talking about it as party’s success. Now RJD is quiet as it does not want to upset Nitish,” he added.

Another RJD leader said that both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, who head different parties, may have differences over many issues, but they are also aware that their differences should not allow the regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prevail over Bihar. “Sometimes, compulsions are for a bigger objective and that binds groups,” he added.

Former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar said that Nitish Kumar’s style of functioning has always been bureaucracy-centric, unlike other parties, which have cadres, and he would never tolerate anyone hurting that in any way to impact his governance and politics.

“Through the portfolio rejig, Nitish Kumar has done what was expected for quite some time. Yet, in his decisions, RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s support is understandable, may be due to delicate circumstances and difficult electoral arithmetic that handicap both of them. Neither will want the BJP to take advantage of their differences. Despite unease on some issues, Laluji cannot afford to take unpopular decisions at this stage, though his style has always been cadre-based. Chandrashekhar also went to Laluji following a spat with his department ACS, but things did not work even there and he had to maintain silence, waiting for his exit,” he added.

Diwakar said that stakes are high in Bihar and RJD would not like to ruffle Nitish at this stage when a lot of bigger issues are yet to be settled and the state’s triangular politics (of the RJD, BJP and the JD-U) does not provide much elbow room to it.

“There are several factors behind the unease. One of them is the delayed seat sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While JD-U wants it fast for clarity, RJD is not in any hurry. It is unlikely that Nitish Kumar will settle for less than 17 seats, which is how many JD-U won in 2019, and it may also not accept much change. That means the RJD will have to distribute the rest of the seats among the Congress, the CPI-ML and eventually end up contesting just as many as JD-U, or may be even fewer. But for both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, options are limited and they would not like to spoil the broth impulsively,” he added.

The election to six Rajya Sabha seats and 11 seats of the Bihar Legislative Council in the coming months could also lead to some push and pull. On the basis of electoral arithmetic, JD-U will get just one RS seat. It might like to have another with surplus votes and support of other GA parties.

Social analyst NK Choudhary said that Nitish Kumar is known for being authoritative in his actions and following the bureaucratic line even if it ruffled elected representatives some times.

“The unease with the RJD is understandable, as Nitish got nothing despite initiating the anti-BJP alliance. The RJD may also be feeling uneasy due to a delay in making Tejashwi Prasad Yadav CM. There will be some tussle over seat sharing as well. This may manifest in many ways. One of them is a portfolio rejig, as Nitish managed to get the RJD to agree to the changes he wanted and send the message out that he was in charge,” he added.