Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, and Prashant Kishor.
Credit: PTI Photos
Patna: Battlelines are clearly drawn in Bihar after the last day to file nomination papers for the second and last phase of polls ended on Monday.
The State appears to be again headed for a straight and fierce contest between the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), much like what happened during the 2020 Assembly elections. Last time, both the alliances secured 37% votes in a nail-biting finish where the difference of vote percentage between the two alliances was merely 0.03.
In terms of seats, the NDA secured 125, while the Mahagthabandhan was restricted to 110, even though the RJD emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats in its kitty.
A replay of last polls?
The scenario, despite talks of disunity and deceit within both the camps, appear to be a replica of that during the 2020 Assembly elections. Except one major difference: in 2020, Chirag Paswan was ploughing a lonely furrow. This time Prashant Kishor, through his pocket organisation Jan Suraaj, is making his poll debut and is most likely to end up as Chirag Paswan of 2020, who largely remained a vote-cutter.
Chirag Paswan, who was then not part of the NDA but claimed to be ‘Hanuman’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fielded 137 candidates, mostly against JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar’s nominees. Though Chirag Paswan's party, LJP (R), lost in 136 seats, it cut Nitish Kumar to size and restricted the JD(U) to merely 43 seats in the 243-member House. This was Nitish Kumar’s worst performance in the last two decades in a State where he has been at the helm since 2005.
A repeat of 2020 is likely to be witnessed in the 2025 Assembly polls where it is only PK, as Prashant Kishor is fondly known, who has fielded candidates in all the 243 seats.
“PK would have performed well had he projected himself as the chief ministerial candidate and contested the election. This would have given the voters, who are tired of Lalu Prasad (who ruled Bihar for 15 years) and Nitish Kumar (20 years), a viable choice," opined veteran political scientist Giridhar Jha.
“PK should have realised that this is Bihar, not Maharashtra. And he is no Balasaheb Thackeray, who never contested an election but called the shots and appointed his men as Chief Minister. By not contesting the polls, PK has erred and his Jan Suraaj may end up as a spoiler, much like Chirag Paswan did in 2020. Whom PK damages more, will be known only on November 14, the counting day," averred the political commentator.
PK, however, remains unfazed. “We are giving the Bihar voters a fair chance to elect people with clean image. Either my party will emerge on the top, or end up being the last,” the poll-strategist-cum-politician has said.