The BJP has been trying hard to tell voters in Bihar that the alliance between the Nitish Kumar-led JDU and the Lalu Prasad-led RJD was an immoral one and the two had joined hands in lust for power. But the party itself has failed to project a single face as its chief minister pick ahead of the Assembly elections.
BJP insiders have been maintaining that the presence of many aspirants for the coveted post was one of the factors and hence, the party wanted to keep all such aspirants guessing. The BJP leaders, however, have been rubbishing such claims.
The Telegraph caught up with one of the prominent Yadav faces of the party, Nand Kishore Yadav, who also happens to be the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, and threw up some "in-your-face" questions. Excerpts from the interview:
TT: What is preventing the BJP from projecting a chief minister ahead of the Assembly elections?
It is part of the party strategy. We adopt different strategies for different states and there is nothing new in it. I don't know why our political opponents are making an issue out of it. It is a well-known fact that the JDU-RJD alliance projected Nitish's face as chief minister out of compulsion. It is an open secret that Lalu wanted to decide this issue after the polls. It became obvious when Lalu asserted that he gulped the "poison" to check the BJP ascendancy.
TT: What objection do you have in projecting Sushil Kumar Modi as party's chief minister pick ahead of polls?
The BJP is a national party and it decides things according to its strategy. It is the party that would decide the name of the chief minister either before or after the polls. One thing is certain that everyone in the party goes by the decision taken on such issues. There is no question of any individual leader supporting or opposing any name.
TT: There is a general perception that Sushil Kumar Modi is the strongest leader in the Bihar BJP. Do you think otherwise?
Sushil ji is a very senior leader of the party. He is the leader of our parliamentary party. Our party believes in collective leadership and different roles have been assigned to different leaders.
TT: Do you think that the Bihar BJP has a face, which can be projected vis-à-vis Nitish Kumar in the run-up to the Assembly elections?
Our political opponents don't have any face other than Nitish Kumar to be projected as the chief minister, whereas we have a galaxy of leaders coming from different sections of the society. The BJP does not have dearth of leaders when it comes to projecting someone vis-à-vis Nitish.
TT: What steps are being taken by the BJP leadership to check factionalism in the party state unit?
There is nothing like that in our party. Ours is a party where members might have differing opinions on a given subject but once a decision is taken at the party level, everyone follows the same.
TT: How important is Bihar election in the BJP's scheme of things?
This is for the first time that the BJP has emerged as the most important party in the Assembly elections. While some parties are with us, others opposing us have joined hands to fight us. Naturally, this election becomes very important for the party.
TT: Isn't it true that a loss in Bihar would have an impact at the national-level, as it would be construed that the BJP's popularity is on the wane after the general elections?
Those talking such things appear to have overlooked the fact that it is an Assembly election and there is a JDU government in Bihar and this party has joined hands with the RJD to contest the Assembly elections. This election would be a test for the Nitish government and no one else. As far as the BJP is concerned, there is no question of losing the elections, as people are fed up with the performance of the past two years of the JDU government. People have also not forgotten the 15 years of the RJD rule in the state.
TT: Don't you think that the elections in Bihar have become more personality-centric than being issue-based even though Bihar happens to be one of the most backward states in the country?
It is unfortunate. The only plank on which our political opponents are contesting this poll happens to be anti-BJP and not being sensitive towards the issues faced by the people of the state. The BJP has decided to raise issues like good governance and development in a big way. It would become clearer once we launch the poll campaign in full steam.
TT: Isn't it true that though the Centre has made several announcements for Bihar in the past one year, nothing specific is visible on the ground in terms of development or benefits in the state?
It is a well-known fact that the implementation of any project needs the state government's cooperation at the implementation stage. The Nitish Kumar government has been a big disappointment on this front. Take the case of setting up the IIM in Bihar. Though the Centre announced it, the state government till now has not been able to provide land for the project. Finally, the Centre has decided to start the institution from a rented accommodation so that the state could benefit. Same with the Mahatma Gandhi Central University in East Champaran where land has still not been provided. In case of Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge, the state government has not been able to provide land for the approach road even though the Centre has sanctioned funds for early completion of the project. That is why we are emphatically telling people of Bihar to have a government in the state, which would cooperate with the Centre.
