Updated: October 18, 2020 7:55:24 am
‘Nitish (Kumar) came to power with the promise of development, but under his rule Bihar’s GDP per capita has only fallen to the lowest level in the country’
Congressional leader Sanjay Nirupam, the Maharashtra party’s only star activist for the Bihar Assembly elections, talks with Sandeep Ashar about how reverse migration during the shutdown, the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the Narendra Modi factor se will develop in surveys.
Congress says the BJP is using the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput for the Bihar polls. Has the case had an impact on the ground?
The case of the actor’s death has nothing to do with Bihar politics or elections. Unfortunately, the parties try to exploit it for their own reasons. That’s wrong. Prima facie it seems that the actor committed suicide. Even the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS, New Delhi) panel has said so. No one should make his death part of the electoral campaigns. This goes against basic electoral principles.
You yourself criticized the way the Mumbai police handled the case.
I still feel that the Mumbai police should have shown more speed and created the perception that they were taking the investigation seriously. From an outside perspective, it seemed that they were not taking this seriously. Followers of the actor took advantage of this and said he should be turned over to the CBI. I always said that the Mumbai Police is the best force in the country when I spoke about it, but it seemed like they were under pressure, from whom I don’t know.
The stubbornness on the part of the Mumbai police and the (Maharashtra) government initially, not to hand over the case, was not correct. But it was also not necessary the way in which the main Bihar police officers tried to smear the Mumbai Police and tried to create a conflict, a confrontation. Both parties turned it into an ego shock, which was avoidable and unexpected. It looked like a political battlefield and the police were fighting.
Mumbai police recently arrested a Delhi-based lawyer for spreading false news about the Sushant case. Congress has said it was a concerted political campaign. How do you see this?
This is a great challenge for administrators and investigative agencies. Eighty thousand fake accounts were created, YouTubers said what they wanted. At the end of the day, Sushant was defamed in the name of political gain and those 80,000 accounts were responsible. These things can happen again. All parties must come together to nip these things in the bud. This should be properly investigated.
The elections appear to be a contest between regional satraps and the BJP. What role does Congress see for itself?
We do not have unrealistic expectations. We are not the main contenders. It can be said that we are the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party number 2 and we will continue to be until we rebuild the organization. We hope to win 50 of the 70 seats and play a role in shaping the government. It is very difficult to predict the elections in Bihar, but the voter seems disenchanted.
Migration remains an important factor in Bihar.
A person like me had to migrate because the then congressional government was not focused on development. Then Lalu (Yadav) came in and the migration increased even more. Nitish came to power with the promise of development, but under his rule, Bihar’s GDP per capita has only fallen to the lowest in the country. Unemployment has risen. The migration has not stopped. Industrialization is slow. This is his biggest failure.
After the blockade (induced by coronavirus) when there was reverse migration, the government of Bihar reacted more irresponsibly. Nitish didn’t want people to come back. People were forced to walk for days, take cars or bicycles. The Bihar government had the worst record when it came to helping migrants.
How hurt is the Bihari migrant by all this?
The poor man is hurt. Even the Maharashtra government did not do much for them. But the Bihar government was very apathetic towards them. They (the migrants) are also upset with the Center. So many died during the reverse migration and this pain will manifest itself in the form of votes and will go against those in power. The BJP and Nitish will face the worst of this. There is also anger over the mismanagement of the floods.
How important will PM Modi be?
This is a state election. Honestly, the Modi factor shouldn’t matter. But if they (the BJP) bring it (Modi), it might even help us. This is the first state election after the coronavirus lockdown. The last six months have been disappointing on the economic front. People are hurt. This election is as much a referendum on post-blockade policies from Modi as on the mismanagement of Nitish Kumar.
What is the electoral strategy of Congress?
Underemployment and underdevelopment will be our main bulletin board. Nitish Kumar had come to power promising change and development. But he has done nothing in the last 15 years. People want a change. It will depend on how we take advantage of it. We will carry out a joint campaign with the RJD. Coordination at the district level will be established between the two parties and the left to mobilize voters. The star activists in Congress will visit the constituencies of all our candidates.
After being on the sidelines after his defeat at Lok Sabha, he now stands as a star activist, the sole leader of Maharashtra.
During the last year, some problems arose and I expressed it. But this is the beauty of Congress, it is a party with internal democracy and everyone can say things and yes, sometimes they say that all this should not be said publicly, maybe I was too vocal but that was because I had no forum, nobody He said nothing or asked me anything, so I expressed what I could in the interests of the party.
The LJP has pulled out of the JDU-led alliance, but Chirag Paswan says it is Modi’s ‘Hanuman’. There is talk that LJP is BJP’s B team, how do you see this factor?
Try to be politically smart. But this does not work in Bihar politics. Voters want clarity. There is too much confusion here, he has resigned and says he is still with Modi. You will face a great loss. Also numerically, the LJP does not have as many votes, it has the support of a community. I think it will be important to see who the votes will undermine.
Why was the party with Tejashwi Yadav as the face of the alliance?
The RJD is the main party in our alliance. Congress and the left have joined him. It was up to the RJD to choose the lead ministerial candidate. They elected Tejashwi Yadav and Congress has no problem with that. It is a fact that Tejashwi is not as strong or charismatic as his father (Lalu Yadav), but he is popular with young people. Our party is 100% with him.
The RJD has a guaranteed community vote. There is a clear demographic advantage.
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