Updated: October 21, 2020 7:37:44 am
In a sign that the Tejashwi rallies are having an effect on the rival camp of the JDU, the party’s hard-working chairman Ashok Choudhary recently posted photos of a rally Nitish Kumar held in Bhore in Gopalganj, where a crowd had turned up. considerable.
At rallies, the images are very similar. Crowds packed together, with very few masks and no social distancing. But since RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s helicopter begins to descend, they start cheering wildly and then follow him on a wave as he walks onto the stage and speaks.
With the first phase of voting for the Bihar Assembly elections a week away, the crowds who are flocking to hear Tejashwi, Mahagathbandhan’s top ministerial candidate, at his rallies are becoming a topic of conversation. While the RJD is reading this as a sign that the people in the state are ready for change, the ruling JD (U) goes to great lengths to explain that participation in rallies is not a measure of vote transferability.
What seems to excite the crowd the most is Yadav’s promise, one he makes in each of his speeches, of 10 lakhs of government posts in his first act as prime minister. At his last rally of the day in Paliganj on Tuesday, Yadav told the cheering crowd: “Ek mauka milega, toh jis din peh mantrimandal ki baithak hogi, pehli baar mukhyamantri hote hue pen chalegi, toh desh ke itihaas mein pehli baar ek saath 10 lakh naujavaan ko ikatthe sarkaari naukri milega”. Loosely translated, it means that if given the opportunity, you will sign your 10 lakh pledge of government jobs on your first day in office.
Read also | Paliganj: In Yadav seat, LJP scare makes NDA’s task difficult
Given Bihar’s long history of caste politics and social justice, those evaluating the Opposition’s chances have largely been left to see if the RJD can expand beyond its main Yadav and Muslim voter base.
This sea of people advocates for change, development, jobs and employment in Bihar. The incompetent 15-year government of the NDA has ruined Bihar.
Humbled and grateful to receive an enthusiastic reception on the other side of Bihar.
Such an electrifying crowd at the Goh assembly, Aurangabad. pic.twitter.com/ztfz0fjhHK
– Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) October 20, 2020
RJD leaders, however, believe that the rallies are proof that this conventional wisdom may not hold true for 2020, a year of deep economic difficulties.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha told The Indian Express: “There is rigid arithmetic that some people in Delhi follow. But that rigidity of caste arithmetic is breaking down. Whether it breaks 35% or 30%, I can’t tell you … What I can say for sure is that it is breaking. “
In a sign that the Tejashwi rallies are having an effect on the rival camp of the JDU, the party’s hard-working chairman Ashok Choudhary recently posted photos of a rally Nitish Kumar held in Bhore in Gopalganj, where a large crowd had turned out. .
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav with former BIhar CM Rabri Devi.
“There was a jansabha from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bhore. Opponents must not panic while looking at the crowd. Please see, the so-called youth leader Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD and Tej Pratap Singh, the sons of Lalu Prasad. This is the love and respect Nitish Kumar receives, ”he tweeted.
Read also | Bihar elections: tukde-tukde gang from Oppn alliance, anti-national, says Nadda
And yet the pictures tell the story. While Yadav’s rallies are chaotic, with the crowd almost making their way onto the packed stage, the CMs are more orderly. At the Gopalganj rally, as in many others, the crowd was at least 20 meters from the stage, and while masks and social distancing were also in short supply, most participants were sitting in chairs under a shamiana.
Jha said the spontaneity at Yadav’s rallies was due to him becoming the “face of Bihar against Nitish Kumar.” “People can connect with the issues raised by Tejashwi ji. We’ve seen huge crowds before, but what’s interesting is that this is an active, interactive crowd. This crowd has not come to listen to the leader, this crowd has come to engage with the leader, ”he said.
However, JDU chief spokesman Arvind Nishad dismissed the figures at rallies in Tejashwi.
“If you look at the trend of the rallies, whether it’s Lalu ji before, or Tejashwi ji now, the media can analyze them however they want. But the ones who come to the Nitish Kumar rallies are the chuppa (silent) voters. You just know how to come and show your support by voting. So analyzing elections or popular support through rallies is not correct. Those who come to the rallies can do it on their own, but it remains to be seen if this carries over to the votes. In the last 20 years, the vote has always been one of faith with Nitish Kumar ”.
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