Bihar On Auction

NEW DELHI: Elections for Bihar have yet to be declared but the campaign has started in real earnest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a new tone at Arrah where he announced a “sava lakh crore” (Rs 1.25 lakh crores) package in a dramatic speech to convince the electorate that a vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party would be the password to open the caves to wealth and development.

The speech has not had the impact expected. Even the social media responses vary from the predictable ‘great’ to the more sobering warnings that these ‘packages’ mean little on the ground.

PM Modi’s entire address was about money. Of how former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sanctioned Rs 10,000 crores, of how the Bihar government had not spent all of it, of how the “then chief minister after a political drama” (reference to Nitish Kumar clearly) went to Delhi (UPA government) begging for money. “Save my izzat, give me something, anything,de do bhai de do,” said the PM in disparaging tones of the chief minister of the state and certainly not becoming of his office. “And so they gave him a chocolate, a biscuit, and he came back and said yes, yes I have got a chocolate,” PM Modi said to emphasise that Delhi had given him just Rs 12000 crores.

But he had promised Rs 50,000 crores during the Lok Sabha elections. But after detailed analysis he had come to the conclusion that this was not enough. And then he went from 50,000 to 60,000 to 65,000 upwards and finally announced that he would be giving Bihar Rs 1.25 lakhs.

The Janata Dal(U) that is fighting a grim battle in the state rejected this speech as mere grandstanding. And according to the chief minister a basic auction of the state. The ruling party of Bihar is countering this with two arguments. One, the demand for special status for Bihar. JD(U) President Sharad Yadav said that the people wanted special status, and not anyone’s “mercy.” CM Nitish Kumar has started an intense campaign across the state attacking the BJP for questioning the DNA of the people of Bihar.

On the ground the BJP and RSS, according to reports from the state, are trying to polarise the voters on communal lines. The JD(U) is using the DNA and development argument to counter this, seeking to convince the voters that they are Biharis first and have to unite for their own future. The Dalits are seen as a vulnerable community along with the lower backwards where the JD(U) reach is reportedly limited. However, party leaders deny this maintaining that “Nitishji has been working for the poorest sections.”

In the midst of this MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi is set to launch a campaign in at least 25 Assembly segments where the Muslim vote is significant. He did the same in Maharashtra and won two seats amidst speculation that he was working along with the BJP. This was prompted by his virulent speeches, and the absence of any attack on him insofar as the BJP and the RSS is concerned. His decision to contest the Bihar elections and try and split the Muslim vote is expected to help the BJP, and thereby further fuelling the speculation that he has some understanding with the latter. Owaisi has a particular appeal amongst the Muslim youth because of his harsh language, and wild promises.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, as reported by The Citizen several weeks ago, will be joining the campaign but in support of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The two have had several meetings, and Kejriwal is expected now to share a dais with Kumar in a joint campaign for these elections. The JD(U) is optimistic that this will have a positive impact on the youth, that has become the target group for all political parties.

The Congress party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal are currently low on the ground. Lalu Prasad Yadav after wasting weeks in quibbling for the lead position in the alliance with the JD(U) is now looking to consolidate the Yadav vote. It is not clear at this stage whether the RJD leader still commands the same support as he did earlier, more so as a sizeable section of the votebank deserted him for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Reports suggest a certain disillusionment amongst the Yadav youth with the BJP as well, but there is no confirmation of this alleged mood swing as yet.

The Congress party, despite the show in Parliament, remains with a negligible presence on the ground in Bihar and has not been able to really move out of the shadows. Both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice President Rahul Gandhi will be campaigning for the alliance with the JD(U) in the state.

As a senior JD(U) leader said, currently it is money power versus Bihar’s pride. Nitish Kumar remains the main attraction, with all the coalition members having to accept his central position in these polls.