The commonest reason cited by those attending Congress rallies in Bihar is that they have come to “see” either of the Nehru-Gandhi siblings.
Supporters of the Mahagathbandhan don’t seem to be moved as much by the allegations of “vote chori” as by bread-and-butter issues like corruption and the lack of employment.
Also, the BJP appears to have successfully convinced a large section of Hindu
voters that the Mahagathbandhan is a “Muslim force”.
However, the Opposition alliance faces challenges in conserving its Muslim voters from community-centric parties like the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM, or just MIM to people here).
Kadwa, a picturesque constituency in the southeastern corner of Bihar, seems lost in time. It’s common here to see cars of 1990s vintage; rusty bicycles still outnumber motorcycles; old Cathode Ray Tube TVs are widely used; and even the arterial roads are barely metalled.
The constituency is represented by Congress legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan. An unusually large crowd turned out for party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s rally here on Saturday.
Chowki Bazar, adjacent to the rally ground, was the venue of post-rally discussions for the men of the village. They picked up on the theme of corruption that Priyanka had spoken about.
“We all went just to see Priyankaji as she is the granddaughter of Indiraji. I don’t know who will win, but everyone is unhappy with bribery. Everyone here has paid the ‘donation’ to officials for land registry (during a recent drive to update land records),” the elderly Haseeb Ur Rehman told The Telegraph.
“The officers get salaries, so why should we pay them and yet have to spend days getting land documents? We are spending whatever little money we get from our children who work outside.”
He went on: “Can any party solve corruption? During my father’s and grandfather’s times, officials would come for panchayat meetings with all the documents. Responsibility would be fixed if something was wrong. Now we have to go to their offices and do ji hazoori (pay obeisance). The whole system has to change.”
People return from Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi’s rally in Purnea on Sunday
Priyanka compared the NDA government’s recent women’s employment grant of ₹10,000 — a possible game-changer for Nitish — to a wife-beating drunkard gifting the wife a sari when he is in a good mood.
Women at the rally this newspaper spoke to were too shy to say what they thought of the comparison.
One of them picked up her little son, named Rahul, and said: “Rahul, tell bhaiya (this reporter) that when you grow up you should get a good job, not do mazdoori (wage labour) like papa-mummy.”
Another woman chimed in: “But how will they give all our children jobs? All politicians just make promises.”
The Mahagathbandhan has promised a government job for every family. The NDA has promised a defence production corridor.
Dhirendra Sharma, a carpenter, worked on his intricate neem wood cots — which sell in Delhi for four times the sum he is paid for them by the middlemen — as the rally crowds left.
“Our bank accounts get blocked if we don’t use them for three months. No politician will talk about it. What do we do if we have no money to deposit for three months…,” he said.
“I did not pay the ₹5,000 bribe for the government housing scheme. My relatives got the grant but I did not.”
Sharma added: “The problem is that Opposition workers only go to Muslim houses and the ruling party men go only to Hindu homes to campaign. Neither of them are sincere in solving problems.”
In Bahadurganj, near the Nepal border, Yasir held the hands of two of his friends tightly as they walked towards Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally.
“Apna iman itni asani se bech doge? ‘MIM, MIM’ kar rahe ho. Pehle suno Rahul kya bol raha hai (Will you sell your values so easily? First listen to Rahul Gandhi before supporting the AIMIM),” Yasir tells one of the friends, Danish.
Both of them study Urdu at Purnea University, and are preparing for the teachers eligibility test and the civil service exams.
Danish blushed when questioned, but Yasir replied: “There is some hawa (favourable wind) for the MIM because, despite Rahulji’s talk of caste census and fair representation, the Mahagathbandhan fielded Muslims in disproportionately low numbers to their population.
“Smaller communities have got a higher number of seats. People see Rahul Gandhi as our national leader, but feel that we should also have a Seemanchal party like the MIM to take up our voice.”
He added: “I support the Mahagathbandhan because I feel that they alone can possibly change this system, where all of us have to leave the state to get a good education or jobs. I see an (ulterior) agenda in the third parties, and I am not convinced by their rhetoric.”
Muslims, around 17 per cent of Bihar’s population, make up less than 13 per cent of the Opposition alliance’s nominees and around two per cent of the NDA’s.
The Mahagathbandhan has declared Tejashwi Yadav as its candidate for chief minister, and Mukesh Sahani — who leads a party representing a small backward community called Mallahs — as prospective deputy chief minister. No Muslim has been nominated for the deputy chief minister’s post yet, although Tejashwi has hinted that one may be named later.
Ten of the Congress’s 61 candidates are Muslims; eight of these 10 are from northeast Bihar or Seemanchal.
Rahul revisited his vote chori theme at a rally. A random survey of those leaving the meeting suggested that hardly any of them had been moved by it.
Among those in attendance was the politically unaffiliated ward councilor, Raju Kumar Harijan.
“The electorate in my ward reduced from around 1,500 to 1,456. Of those deleted, 53 are dead; a few households have members from Nepal who were deleted,” he said.
“We are helping them apply for Indian citizenship so they can be added back. Here, at least, I have not seen vote chori. There are far more serious problems.”
He elaborated: “The nearest government hospital equipped for surgeries is 30km away. We don’t even have a surgeon at the local health centre. Women or their unborn children have died on the journey to the Mata Gujari Memorial Medical College in Kishanganj.
“I like the Congress candidate, Masawar Alam, because he is an academic who appears sincere in taking up such issues, unlike the MLAs we have had so far.
“But even if he wins, I plan to go to Delhi and appeal directly to the Prime Minister to intervene, because I don’t think that any government in Patna will be able to successfully end this extreme deprivation here in every sphere.”
Outgoing MLA Anzar Nayeemi has switched from the AIMIM to the RJD and is not contesting this time. Masawar Alam has been with several parties in the past, including the JDU.
- Bihar votes today