Updated: September 26, 2020 1:15:18 pm
Bharatiya Janata Party Chairman JP Nadda points to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bihar’ campaign vans ahead of the Assembly elections, in Patna, Saturday, September 12, 2020 (PTI photo).
The ruling coalition in Bihar may be contesting the Assembly elections next month under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of JD (U), the largest alliance partner in the state, but the stakes appear to be higher for the BJP. .
At least three BJP leaders admitted that winning Bihar, where the party fared miserably in 2015 after an impressive performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections – the JD (U) was then part of the Opposition Grand Alliance – is “politically crucial “for the party” immediate and long-term future.
A victory will be important for the party not only to counteract the Opposition campaign against him. farm related bills, what have you seen farmers protests in different parts of the country, and to move forward with the reform agenda, but also to show that the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is intact.
As in the states where it won after the 2015 defeat in Bihar, whether large like Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat or a much smaller Tripura, the BJP also relies heavily on Modi’s credibility and buy-in in Bihar. , amid a deepening pandemic crisis. rise in unemployment, slowdown in the economy and escalation of tension with China throughout LAC.
Courting rural voters with central schemes
The BJP’s strategy would be to maintain its base among the urban population and the advanced castes, and to attract rural voters, whom the party failed to win over in the 2015 Bihar polls, with welfare plans. A series of development projects for the state, worth Rs 16,000, recently launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be aggressively published.
After its defeat in Bihar in 2015, the BJP had lost elections in several states: Delhi, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While the BJP was unable to form a government in Maharahstra despite being the largest party, it has since broken up the ruling party or coalitions to regain power in Bihar, MP and Karnataka.
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But ahead of the three-phase elections in Bihar starting on October 28, the party faces multiple challenges.
The first hurdle for BJP would be ticket distribution among allies, holding the NDA together. Since LJP already has problems with JD (U), the BJP leadership will have to use its political management skills for the distribution of seats among the conflicting partners while keeping pressure from its own cadres to increase the proportion of tickets. for party candidates. BJP sources indicated that the party wants JD (U) to agree to compete for the same number of seats.
Former BJP President and Interior Minister Amit Shah had started talks with JD (U), who was joined by the current head of the party, JP Nadda. Party leaders said that Shah’s absence from public places due to his health problems will not affect the talks.
Although the ruling NDA appears to have an advantage over the Opposition, which still seems disoriented, BJP members admitted that the anti-incumbent factor cannot be completely ignored. “There is a fatigue among the people against Nitish Kumar. A section of the electorate, including BJP cadres, feel there must be a change. There are also concerns about the future of JD (U), ”said a BJP deputy from Bihar.
To overcome this, the BJP is trying to superimpose the Modi government’s initiatives on the Nitish government’s performance in the state. The party is ready to launch a program to mobilize households that have benefited from the central schemes. The program, which will probably be called ‘Modi ka Paisa’, aims to capitalize on the goodwill that such plans have created among the rural population.
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Two other issues that will play a major role in BJP’s strategy would be the deaths of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and former Union Minister and RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. While Nitish and BJP MP CM Sushil Modi have made Sushant’s death an emotional issue – the late actor came from Bihar – Singh had announced his resignation from RJD three days before his death, after writing a letter to the boss. from RJD, Lalu Prasad, who was very critical. of his old party.
Singh had also had a series of communications with Nitish about the development of the state, which he found a reference to in Prime Minister Modi’s speech last week.
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