From 'Laluwaad' to 'Lahori', Bihar poll campaign picks up

With election campaigns picking up in Bihar, politicians have gone from local to international—raising issues ranging from 'Laluwaad' (the politics of Lalu Prasad) to Pakistan, Afghanistan.

While the campaign songs mostly focus on local themes, the high decibel battle of words between leaders includes even the far off Kashmir.

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"While the Congress has no good governance agenda to talk about, they are back to their 'Divide India' dirty tricks before Bihar elections. Shri Rahul Gandhi praises Pakistan, Congress wants Article 370 to return! Shameful," tweeted BJP President J P Nadda in response to a series of tweets by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who said that the "arbitrary" decisions of Modi government on August 5 last year must be "rescinded' and that the Congress "resolutely stands for the restoration of the status and rights of the people of J&K."

While many BJP leaders have referred to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in election rallies, Union Minister for State for Home and party MP Nityanand Rai went to the extent of saying that if Lalu Prasad's RJD came to power in the state after the polls, the terrorists from Kashmir will take shelter in Bihar.

On Sunday, the BJP tweeted a video song flagging the dangers of 'Laluwaad' (the politics of Lalu Prasad) coming back to Bihar and sought to augment the messaging about alleged "Jungle Raj, criminalisation and casteism" of Lalu politics which it said might come through even Congress this time.

Meanwhile, Congress put out a tweet with a picture showing how India is "trailing behind much smaller and much less developed nations" like Pakistan and Bangladesh in Global Hunger Index.

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Similarly, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra hit out at Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for his criticism of the Modi government's handling of Covid 19 at Lahore Lit Fest. Patra brought Rahul Gandhi under the ambit of attack calling him "Rahul Lahori". He accused Tharoor of having made "fun" of India.

Bihar's election campaign this time is also spiced up with Bollywood masala. In a parody of Bhojpuri rap 'Bambai main ka ba' filmed on the ace actor from the state Manoj Bajpai, Opposition campaigned around a song "Bihar Me Ka Ba' (what is there in Bihar), after which the BJP latched on to the other "Bihar Me Ee Baa (This is what is in Bihar).

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Congress' theme song is ‘Kaa Kiye ho‘ (What have you done) to question what the Nitish government has done for Bihar, with special emphasis on the government's handling of the migrant crisis during the pandemic. Congress's latest campaign song is ‘Bole Bihar Badle Sarkar’ (Bihar speaks up for government change).