In Bihar, it’s Tejashwi’s populist pitches vs Modi’s Hindu outreach

It is RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav versus Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the electoral arena in Bihar, a state where the BJP had once thought it would have a cakewalk.

The battle across the length and breadth of Bihar is now a virtual straight fight involving Modi's charisma and Tejashwi’s charm among the voters, especially the youth.

It has boiled down to a verbal contest between the two – a war of wits to outmanoeuvre each other in a bid to wring much-needed electoral mileage in the keenly-fought elections in the state, which elects 40 MPs.

Modi vs Tejashwi

The warfare is based on deception; the two leaders tend to distract the voters from their transgressions.

As the prime minister rants and raves about Tejashwi’s background, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader attacks Modi with forceful arguments. An aggressive Tejashwi mocks the prime minister over his road show by declaring to hold a ‘job show’, scoffs at Modi for calling him ‘shehzada’ and ‘Jungle Raj ka yuvraj’ by seeking to know the steps taken in the last 10 years to benefit Bihar.

He counters the prime minister’s ‘mangalsutra’ and ‘buffaloes’ jibes by highlighting the BJP’s alleged attempts to throttle the Constitution and democracy.

One-man army

Tejashwi, the RJD’s star campaigner, is canvassing single-handedly for the INDIA bloc candidates vis-à-vis a high-octane campaign unleashed by Modi, Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar and Yogi Adityanath and others in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar.

Modi has addressed 11 election meetings in the state and is expected to hold at least five more.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has held only one election meeting in Bihar. He is set to hold two more meetings. Congress sources say the major portion of the INDIA campaign will be handled by Tejashwi.

BJP jittery?

Tejashwi has so far addressed 100-odd election meetings. This comes to three to four meetings a day, each drawing responsive crowds that is making BJP leaders fidgety.

The fiery leader has been accompanied by Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani, a Bollywood set-designer-turned-politician who enjoys majority support among the fishermen community.

Tejashwi’s extensive campaigning is widely deemed to have turned the tide away from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose incoherent speeches have embarrassed the BJP. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son has now achieved a position where he outshines his political rivals including Nitish Kumar and BJP Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.

Poll narratives

The campaign speeches of the prime minister and other NDA leaders are mainly targeted at Lalu Prasad and his family (‘parivarvaad’), ‘Jungle Raj’ and issues like fish-eating by Tejashwi and inheritance tax. BJP leaders also build their narrative around ‘Hindu-Muslim’ to polarise voters.

The blitzkrieg of issues raised by Modi is matched by Tejashwi. Warding off the volley of attacks on him, Tejashwi alleges that Modi diverts public attention from his own failures by targeting the RJD and its rule that ended way back in 2005.

Tejashwi’s speeches are without frivolity and devoid of verbose. His messages are focused. When Modi chided Tejashwi for eating fish during Navratri, the RJD leader raked up poverty, unemployment and inflation and asked the prime minister to speak up on genuine issues.

Mangalsutra vs people

The RJD leader entered into a verbal joust with Modi over the latter’s mangalsutra remark and asked who was responsible for snatching away the mangalsutras of women during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonetisation and the Pulwama terror attack.

“People want jobs to fight poverty and the rising cost of living. The prime minister should focus on such issues and tell people as to what his government has done in the past 10 years. Instead, Modi keeps shouting about temples and Muslims,” Tejashwi roared at an election rally.

On Modi’s claim a Congress government would distribute assets among infiltrators, Tejashwi asked the prime minister to discard the politics of hate.

NDA govt would snatch away reservations: Tejashwi

The RJD leader also warns about the impending threat to the Constitution and democracy if Modi returns to power. “Electoral mandates in a democratic set up are meant for working within the constitutional framework of restraints and constraints. But after getting the mandate in 2019, the NDA government attempted to encroach upon the basic tenets of the Constitution,” Tejashwi told The Federal.

He fears that a new NDA government would snatch away reservations granted to Dalits, backward castes and the deprived sections.

In a bid to arouse the Bihari sentiments, Tejashwi accuses Modi of doing nothing for the state even after winning 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. At one meeting, Tejashwi played an audio clip of Modi’s old speeches where the latter was heard making promises to the people.

INDIA’s promises

“In 2014, Modiji had promised ₹15 lakh in everyone’s account, to give two crore jobs a year and bring back black money. In 2019, he vowed to double farmers’ income and provide pucca (concrete) houses for all. In 2024, he is talking about Sanatana Dharma, Hindu-Muslim and mangalsutra,” Tejashwi said.

Tejashwi has promised one crore government jobs, ₹1 lakh for women from economically weaker sections, cooking gas prices to be slashed to ₹500 and 200 units of free electricity if INDIA bloc government comes to power.

A deft politician, Tejashwi does not attack Nitish Kumar at rallies. “Uncle Nitish may have been hijacked by the BJP but his blessings are still with me,” he said when Bihar chief minister fell ill on the day Modi filed his nomination papers.

Tejashwi trips BJP

Tejashwi asserts that the political environment was in favour of the INDIA bloc and the BJP’s 400-plus agenda will fail. “Bihar will spring surprises and give stunning results,” he claimed.

Tejashwi has definitely thwarted the polarisation attempted by the BJP. He has brought the electoral war to a level where it has become quite difficult for the BJP-led NDA to have a cakewalk in Bihar.

Tejashwi has definitely moved to the centre of Bihar’s political space.