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With PM’s rallies and slanging match,is BJP battle-ready in Bihar?
Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who
lived in 6th century BC had warned: “There is no greater danger than
underestimating your opponent.” This is a universal truth. We have
parallels in David versus Goliath, or even the Pandavas versus the
Kauravas in Mahabharatha. There are other mythological legends too –
consider how a child, Krishna, could kill the mighty king Kansa in
Mathura!
Still, who else than politicians know the
practicality of Lao Tzu’s words better? There are nth number of
instances where political heavyweights have been made to bite dust by
novices in electoral battles. In Indian context, the latest such example
was the largely written off Aam Aadmi Party decimating the Bharatiya
Janata Party in Delhi after the latter seemed unstoppable after its
massive victories in the last Lok Sabha elections and all subsequent
state elections.
This explains why the BJP is leaving no stone
unturned in its bid to win Bihar – its first test after its loss of face
in Delhi. Its national president Amit Shah is spending days together in
the state. Just consider that he was scheduled to address three
election rallies on a single day on October 7. He has even got involved
in slanging match with the rival state satraps and the Election
Commission has even ordered an FIR against him for calling the prominent
state leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Yadav a “chara chor”
(fodder thief) in a public rally in Begusarai recently. Least to
mention, the EC ordered an FIR against Lalu too for calling Shah a
“narbhakshi” (maneater).
These instances are clear evidence of how low
electioneering has stooped to this time in Bihar. It indeed seems
unfathomable for the national president of the BJP, which calls itself a
party with a difference, competing with state leaders such as Lalu and
Nitish so far as use of derogatory terms was concerned.
No wonder that political observers are concerned with
the falling level of political debates in election rallies, even those
of Shah. But then, even prime minister Narendra Modi – the BJP’s poll
mascot in Bihar – himself had got into such mudslinging with his barb
against his bete noir, the Janata Dal (United) leader and sitting chief
minister Nitish Kumar, by finding fault with the latter’s ‘DNA” in a
public address in Muzaffarpur. Modi, has already addressed over half a
dozen public meetings and is slated to address around 40 elections
rallies during the election period in the state instead of the earlier
scheduled 12-15 rallies in the state. So does it mean that more
fireworks (read personal attacks) are expected in Bihar now?
There is an old saying: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
The BJP seems to swear by this dictum in Bihar during these elections.
Its leaders have no compunction repaying their political rivals with the
same foul language.
Consider a few more samples: A case
was registered against the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
(AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for calling prime minister Modi a
“Shaitan” (devil) and “Zalim” (tyrant)in an election rally in Bihar’s
Kishanganj district. Even Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was in no way left
behind as he termed BJP as a “mukhauta” (mask) of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh. His one-time deputy and a frontrunner for the CM’s
post in case the BJP comes to power in the state, BJP leader Sushil
Kumar Modi, went on to call Nitish a “vishwasghati” (betrayer). Already
the BJP is using terms such as ‘arrogant’, ‘ahamkari’ (proudy) for
Nitish time, and again. Not to be left behind, Lalu’s son and RJD
contestant Tejaswi called the BJP a party of thugs.
Amidst this war of foul words, none is taking the
rivals lightly. After the initial setbacks when Mulayam Singh Yadav
broke the Grand Alliance, Lalu has bounced back by capitalizing on the
unfortunate Dadri incident where the mob had lynched two Muslims of the
same family on suspicion of consuming beef. His statement that even
Hindus consume beef, is likely to consolidate the Muslim votes in his
favour. Already given his large cadre network, Lalu has made his
alliance partner Nitish play second fiddle by preferring tickets to
Lalu’s men over his own MLAs. Lalu managed to hog limelight also by
criticizing the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement over the issue of
reservation. With about 76 per cent backwards in the state, reservation
indeed is a sensitive issue here and Lalu was not just quick to seize
the opportunity but even forced the BJP president Shah to toe his line
on reservation instead of that of Bhagwat.
However, Lalu, a convict in the fodder scam, cannot
contest election. He is looking at himself in the role of a “kingmaker”.
In the process he has not just gone attacking the BJP lock, stock and
barrel, but even cutting his alliance partner Nitish to size by getting
his own men fielded from Nitish’s strongholds.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the BJP appears
more concerned with Lalu than Nitish. As it is, as compared to the
latter, Lalu is more aggressive against the BJP and this gives yet
another twist to the tale. Even as many recent opinion polls have given
the BJP an edge, political pundits don’t rule out the possibility of a
hung assembly either in Bihar. In such a scenario, would Nitish
renegotiate with the BJP and return to the NDA fold? It seems a bit
far-fetched now but can such a possibility be discounted? It is in this
light that many political commentators and columnists have already
started interpreting BJP’s somewhat “soft” approach towards Nitish and
vice versa as compared with Lalu. One can also not overlook the pressure
that Lalu of late applied on Nitish — be it on transfer postings of
officers or seat allocation to his favoured men despite the fact that in
the outgoing assembly Lalu had only 22 MLAs as against Nitish’s 100
plus MLAs. In case more of Lalu’s men win this time, the likelihood of
Lalu exerting more pressure on chief minister Nitish cannot be ruled out
if the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of JDU-RJD-Congress returns to
power after the elections. So will Nitish settle down to continue
playing second fiddle to Lalu?
It is an open game as of now, indeed. The
insinuations though are many. It is here that BJP, which looked
strategically ahead of the Mahagathbandhan thus far needs to be careful
as slanging match and DNA barbs too have various interpretations.
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