Barbs, bluster as rallies for Phase 1 of Bihar polls wind up

CAmpaigning for the important number one stage of the assemblage elections in Bihar ended on tues as top leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition Grand Alliance criss-crossed the poll-bound state, exchanging jibes and making promises to the 74.2 million electorate.In the first phase on November 6, 121 seats across 18 districts go to the polls. The campaigning was dominated by questions of jobs, development, law and order caste loyalties and women voters as the NDA accused the Opposition of disrespecting Bihar’s culture and ushering in ‘Jungle Raj’ and the INDIA bloc alleged the ruling coalition had failed the state’s young population.From the NDA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s women workers, chief minister Nitish Kumar addressed two meetings, Union home minister Amit Shah addressed threerallies, and chief ministers of twostates held twomeetings.Modi asked workers to focus on women voters, a key constituency of CM Kumar.“I have seen this election closely, and one thing I can say is that the NDA is winning this election with a huge majority. I have no doubt about NDA’s victory. The people of Bihar have made up their mind that this time they are going to make NDA victorious and break the record of the last 20 years. The people of ‘jungle raj’ will see their biggest defeat. The development of Bihar can only be done under the NDA,” he said.From the Opposition, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav held sixrallies and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressed threemeetings.“Narendra Modi ji and Nitish ji talk about Jungle Raj. Narendra Modi ji has implemented Jungle Raj by engaging in vote theft. The BJP people, after stealing the governments of Maharashtra, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh, now want to steal the government of Bihar,” Rahul Gandhi said.Gandhi also claimed that Dalits, backward classes, and minorities, who he said make up 90% of India’s population, are largely absent from positions of influence. Addressing a rally in Kutumba, Gandhi questioned the social composition of India’s largest companies and institutions. “Take out the list of the 500 biggest companies, and search for Dalits, Extremely Backward Classes, Mahadalits, minorities, Adivasis in them. You will not find anyone. You won’t find a single one. All of them come from the 10% population,” he said. “All the bank wealth goes to them. All the jobs go to them. They get a place in the bureaucracy. Look at the judiciary. They get everything there too. They have control over the army. And the 90% population, you will not find them anywhere.”The second phase of assembly polls will be held on November 11 and votes will be counted on November 14. The NDA is hoping to beat back the challenge from the Opposition Grand Alliance and secure a fifth consecutive term for Kumar.The third player in the contest – Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor – held roadshows in Sandesh, Arrah and Shahpur constituencies, and urged voters to support his party as a “new option” for changing the state’s governance system.“There is a new option before the people of Bihar, Jan Suraaj. We appeal to the voters to vote for us to bring change to Bihar’s system and governance,” he said.The size of the electorate in the first phase stands at 37 million people, who will vote at 45,324 polling stations for a total of 1,314 candidates. Prominent seats that will go to the polls in the first phase include Raghopur, where Tejashwi Yadav is the incumbent; Mahua, where his brother Tej Pratap Yadav is trying his luck with a new political outfit; and Tarapur, where deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is fighting the elections.Other seats in focus in this phase are Alinagar, where singer Maithili Thakur is fighting the elections on a BJP ticket; Lakhisarai, where deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha is contesting; Mokama, where JD(U) candidate and strongman Anant Singh was arrested earlier this week over the murder of his opponent Dular Chand Yadav; and Raghunathpur, where the RJD candidate is late gangster-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin’s son Osama Shahab.The NDA has focussed its campaign on its welfare sops and governance promises, contrasting the rule of Nitish Kumar with the Jungle Raj ( a reference to the high crime of the RJD years) unleashed by Lalu Prasad, and accusing the Congress of siding with infiltrators in opposing the special intensive revision of voter rolls.“The PM is setting up a Defence Corridor in Bihar. If Pakistan-sponsored terrorists repeat their mistake, ‘goli ka jawab goley se diya jayega’ (they will face cannons for bullets). The cannons to be used against terrorists will be made in Bihar. Unlike the previous Congress regime, the government under Modi’s leadership is committed to the safety and security of the nation,” said Shah.Party chief JP Nadda attacked the RJD, saying those who represent Jungle Raj were trying to deceive people with new, alluring promises. RJD stands for ‘Rangdari’ (extortion), ‘Jungle Raj’, and ‘Dadagiri’ (bullying), he added.Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, said that those making “big” promises at present had “robbed Bihar’s youth of jobs and snatched the rights of poor” during their rule 20 years ago. Addressing rallies in Samastipur, Gopalganj and Lakhisarai, Adityanath claimed that an era of good governance ushered in after Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005.The Opposition’s campaign has stressed on the lack of jobs in one of India’s most impoverished states, promising a government job per family and sops for women. The Grand Alliance has also alleged that the BJP was planning to dump Kumar after the polls, a charge denied by the ruling coalition.“All farmers will be given ₹300 per quintal of paddy and ₹400 for wheat as a bonus over the minimum support price (MSP), if the INDIA bloc comes to power in the state,” Yadav said.Expressing confidence in Mahagathbandhan’s victory, Gandhi assured inclusion of all the classes, castes and religions in the government. “A Mahagathbandhan government is going to be formed in Bihar. This Mahagathbandhan government will be a government of every class, every caste, and every religion. In this government, the voice of women, farmers, labourers, youth, including the entire state of Bihar, will be included.”