Cong lays out Bihar poll roadmap at Patna meet, harps on 'vote chori' claims

Asserting that the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls would mark the “beginning of the downfall” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the Congress on Wednesday (September 24) laid out the tone and tenor of its campaign for the impending election.

Also Read: Congress holds CWC in Patna, deliberations to focus on Bihar polls, 'vote chori'

Patna huddle

The party, which is contesting the polls as part of the Grand Alliance led by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD, is holding a meeting of its extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) at Patna’s Sadakat Ashram, the headquarters of the party’s Bihar unit, for the first time since independence. The huddle is meant to convey to Bihar the seriousness of the Congress’ intent to put up a spirited fight against the state’s ruling NDA government headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar five years after its disastrous performance, of winning just 19 of the 70 seats it contested singularly, prevented the formation of a Grand Alliance government.

To those who were awaiting the extended CWC meet to understand how the Congress shapes its campaign for the state after party leader Rahul Gandhi’s well-received Bihar Voter Adhikar Yatra, there were some clear pointers. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge laid down the broad strokes of what the party’s blitzkrieg against the ruling BJP-JD (U) combine could look like.

Kharge lays down poll strategy

If Rahul’s yatra had made the BJP’s “vote chori” (vote theft) through the Election Commission (EC)’s special intensive revision (SIR) of the poll-bound state’s electoral rolls the central plank of his party’s Bihar campaign, Kharge elaborated on how this theft should not be seen as one restricted to citizens’ voting rights.

“Vote chori means the theft of the ration of Dalits, tribals, backward, extremely backward (communities), minorities, the weak and the poor; it means the theft of their pension, their medicines, and the scholarships and examinations of their children,” Kharge said, while alleging that the same “conspiracy” was now being hatched at a national level.

Also Read: Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘Har Ghar Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar to keep alliance’s momentum going

Unemployment, caste census

Asserting that the unemployment rate in Bihar stood at 15 per cent, the Congress president said the NDA’s “double engine government” in Delhi and Patna had derailed the economy of the state and “denied a special (financial) package” to Bihar even as “lakhs of Bihari youth are either forced to migrate out of the state every year or face ‘lathis’ (stick) of the police when they protest against recruitment scams”.

Kharge also built upon Rahul’s ongoing outreach to the historically oppressed communities through his demand for a nationwide socio-economic and caste census, while underscoring that it was during the brief tenure of the Grand Alliance government (also headed by Nitish Kumar) that Bihar’s caste survey was conducted.

“The backward and extremely backward castes, Dalits and tribals constitute 80 per cent of Bihar’s population. The people want transparency in (conduct of) caste census and in the reservation policy. I want to know from the prime minister under what compulsions he failed to give constitutional protection to the (Grand Alliance) government’s decision of raising the reservation ceiling in Bihar to 65 per cent. The Congress was able to provide such constitutional protection 30 years ago when Tamil Nadu raised reservations to 69 percent but your (NDA’s) double engine government could not do so in Bihar,” Kharge said.

Swipe at Yogi over caste move

The Congress president also drew some inspiration for attacking the BJP by invoking the Yogi Adityanath government’s recent decision of banning caste-based political and social gathering in Uttar Pradesh, a state that shares a long border with Bihar.

“The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh thinks of himself as the successor of the prime minister,” Kharge said, adding, “he (Yogi) had once written an article against reservations and now he has banned caste-based rallies. Will the prime minister tell the country how on the one hand we are talking about conducting a caste-based census while on the other people who protest on the streets for the (caste) atrocities they face are threatened with imprisonment by your chief minister.”

Kharge also hit out at the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, asserting that the rising crime graph of Bihar was proof that “the government and administration of Bihar has taken a long leave of absence”. The Congress president said the people of Bihar “do not want the communal polarisation of the BJP but a politics centred around development that offers basic and long-term solutions to their issues of employment and social justice, which the Congress, and its allies, are offering”.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi of vote theft, says he got 'Hydrogen Bomb’ proof

Kharge plays safe with Nitish

Interestingly, in his opening remarks at the extended CWC, Kharge largely refrained from launching any direct attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has held the reins of power in Patna, straddling different coalitions, for over two decades. Instead, the Congress president chose to fire at the JD(U) chief from the BJP’s shoulders, alleging that the saffron party now “considers Nitish Kumar a liability” and that the chief minister has been “mentally retired by the BJP”.

Kharge’s guarded attack on Nitish is, perhaps, understandable as the JD(U) chief is known for his political promiscuity and an unparalleled ability to switch alliances and allegiance effortlessly. Furthermore, the JD(U)’s ongoing seat-sharing negotiations with the BJP for the Bihar polls haven’t exactly been going smoothly.