RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Opposition is designing a campaign combining elements of social justice and economic justice for the Bihar Assembly elections later this year in which it will also be projecting the “saffronisation” of the JD(U) under Nitish Kumar and BJP’s domination in administration.
While economic justice was central to the RJD-led Maha Gadbandhan’s (Grand Alliance) campaign in 2020, sources said the social justice element will be more prominent this time while there will be attempts by the NDA to cash in on the announcement of including caste enumeration along with Census.
To avoid last minute trouble, the parties have already initiated the seat sharing exercise with an informal understanding that their list of candidates will highlight social diversity than before and rectify certain mistakes the bloc committed during the Lok Sabha election.
The job scenario, the low wages for scheme workers, indebtedness of women, atrocities against Dalits, suicides due to financial liabilities and rising crime will be among a slew of themes the parties will be using in the run up to the state elections.
At the same time, the Opposition leaders will also highlight that the JD(U) has not put enough pressure on the BJP government at the Centre to put the 65% reservation for OBCs in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so that it escapes judicial scrutiny. The ‘double-engine sarkar is not doing enough’ will be the Opposition refrain.
Senior Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPIML-L) and others are highlighting various aspects of the themes in their campaigns in recent days. The three main parties are highlighting what they called economic plight and rising crime in Bihar.
Asked about Nitish Kumar’s grip on voters, a senior Opposition leader said people have now realised that the JD(U) supremo has ruled Bihar with the support of the BJP for around two decades. The administration is BJP-dominated and it is wrong to call it the Nitish government, he said.
“This is not an anti-Nitish but anti-NDA mandate. Basically, this is a BJP government with a declining Nitish and JD(U). The JD(U) is BJP-fied. There is no ideological barrier to BJP. Nitish has been following the BJP agenda for a long time. Take the case of land reforms or education reforms, he dumped it,” the leader said.
The Opposition camp is also not perturbed at the BJP and JD(U) trying to revive the ‘jungle raj’ during Lalu Prasad’s time with leaders saying that the crime statistics would now show that there is a “maha jungle raj” under Nitish. “The crime is rising even in Patna. There are a number of attacks on Dalits and women. The NDA will have to answer that,” they said.