Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched his Bihar election campaign with the slogan “Phir ek baar, NDA sarkar”, avoiding any reference to the “Nitish sarkar” and feeding speculation about the BJP’s perceived intent to claim the chief minister’s post.
For decades, the BJP has played junior ally to Nitish Kumar’s JDU in Bihar’s socialist-dominated landscape. This time, the party appears cautiously determined to reverse the equation.
For the first time, the BJP is contesting an equal number of seats as the JDU — 101 each out of a total 243 — giving itself the chance to claim the top job if it emerges as the larger partner in the Assembly.
“The whole of Bihar is saying, ‘Phir ek baar, NDA sarkar (Once again, an NDA government)’, ‘Phir ek baar, sushasan sarkar (Once again, a government of good governance)’, ‘Jungle Raj walon ko door rakhega Bihar (Bihar will keep away the perpetrators of jungle rule),” Modi said at a rally in Samastipur.
The first — and most significant — slogan contrasted with ally JDU’s “Phir ek baar, Nitish sarkar (Once again, a government by Nitish)”.
Modi seemed to be consciously avoiding any mention of “Nitish sarkar” as he went on: “Nai raftar se chalega Bihar, jab phir ek baar aayegi NDA sarkar (Bihar will gather new pace when the NDA government returns).”
The Prime Minister addressed rallies in Samastipur and Begusarai in north Bihar after paying his respects to former chief minister Karpoori Thakur at his native village in Samastipur.
The BJP has been trying to co-opt the legacy of Thakur, a socialist icon. Last year, the Modi government conferred the Bharat Ratna on Thakur, who belonged to the extremely backward Nai (barber) caste and is remembered for introducing OBC and EBC quotas as far back as 1978.
“It’s because of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakurji’s blessings that people from poor and backward sections — like me, Nitishji and all the other leaders on the stage — were able to rise and serve the people,” the Prime Minister said.
Campaigning a day after the Mahagathbandhan’s dare to the NDA to declare its nominee for chief minister, Modi said the ruling alliance was set to break all electoral records under the leadership of Nitish. But he stopped short of endorsing Nitish as the alliance’s pick for chief minister.
His comments echoed those of his No. 2, Amit Shah, who had last week seemed to hang a question mark over Nitish’s future. Shah had said that while the NDA was contesting the election under the leadership of Nitish, the next chief minister will be decided by the new MLAs after the results are declared.
Shah had also underscored that despite emerging as the bigger partner after the 2020 Assembly polls, the BJP had in deference to Nitish’s seniority made him the chief minister. The message seemed to be that his party might not be so generous this time.
In 2020, the BJP had won 74 seats, with the JDU lagging far behind at 43.
At his two rallies, Modi expectedly invoked the “Jungle Raj” under the erstwhile RJD governments, and lauded Nitish for freeing the state from the menace and providing good governance.
He accused the RJD of forcing the previous UPA government at the Centre not to sanction any development projects for Bihar.
Modi said the “RJD parivar” was the “most corrupt” family in Bihar while the “Congress parivar” (Nehru-Gandhis) was the “country’s most corrupt family”.
He claimed his government had devolved to Bihar three times the funds that the previous Congress-led dispensation did. He promised that private investors would soon set up factories across the state.
Towards the end of the Samastipur rally, Modi asked the crowd to turn on their mobile flashlights. As the crowd did so, he sought to take a swipe at the RJD’s election symbol, the lantern. “There is so much light. There is light in every hand. So does Bihar still need the lantern? No, it doesn’t,” Modi said.
Friendly fights
Despite the show of unity, Mahagathbandhan candidates could still face “friendly fights” in eight constituencies.
However, some such contests have been averted following hectic efforts. In the Pranpur seat in Katihar district and Warsliganj in Nawada, Congress nominees Tauqir Alam and Satish Singh have withdrawn their nominations in favour of RJD candidates. In Babubarahi, VIP candidate Bindu Gulab Yadav has left the field to the RJD’s Arun Kushwaha.
Confusion, however, prevailed on the Gaura Bauram seat. The RJD had first fielded a candidate and then announced that he would pull out in favour of the VIP nominee — party chief Mukesh Sahani’s brother Satish Sahani. However, now the RJD is saying the withdrawal had failed because of technical reasons.
Tejashwi jab
A day after his endorsement as the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav launched his campaign on Friday by pitching the elections as a “Bihar-vs-outsider” contest.
“The Mahagathbandhan has declared its CM candidate but there is no clarity in the NDA. The BJP will not make Nitish chief minister again. But I want to make this very clear — Bihar will be ruled by Biharis, and not outsiders,” he told a rally in Saharsa.