Lok Sabha poll a different ball game, no challenger to PM Modi: Bihar BJP chief

He said that the 2024 results would pave the way for the BJP government in Bihar after the 2025 state assembly elections, as the grand alliance (GA) would disintegrate due to its own contradictions and Nitish’s “selfish politics”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Samrat Chaudhary said that Bihar would be a key state for the BJP and it was confident of doing well in 2024 “despite a truant chief minister (Nitish Kumar) shifting sides to further his personal ambition at the cost of state’s downhill journey”.

Bihar BJP president Samrat Chaudhary (File Photo)

Maintaining that not much should be read into the Karnataka results, which was a state-specific election, Chaudhary said it would have no impact in Bihar or elsewhere, as the Lok Sabha election is an entirely different ball game.

He said that the 2024 results would pave the way for the BJP government in Bihar after the 2025 state assembly elections, as the grand alliance (GA) would disintegrate due to its own contradictions and Nitish’s “selfish politics”.

How tough will Bihar be, as the opposition is buoyant after Karnataka?

Every election is tough. BJP is a cadre-based party and it prepares hard for every election. We accept the people’s mandate with humility, but we never shy away from giving our 100%. Winning or losing is not in our hands. Our job is to put in the right effort.

Karnataka results give us reasons to study the causes and work harder. For 2024, people know there is no competition at the top. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved himself both within the country, as well as, at the global stage, and that is a big advantage for the BJP.

His social welfare initiatives have touched millions irrespective of caste, creed or religion. We are working on the ground. In BJP, there is no fiefdom kind of thing, as most of the religious parties seem to have developed on caste lines. The 2024 Lok Sabha election is an entirely different ball game and the people also vote differently.

Is Nitish Kumar striving to make Bihar the nucleus of the big fight? An opposition meet is also likely.

What Nitish is doing is only for his personal survival. He is no more the same Nitish he was 10 years ago. Age is getting the better of him. He built his image working alongside BJP, but that has vanished due to his actions.

By joining hands with Lalu Prasad [Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president], he has shown that he can go to any extent to prolong his rapidly fading political career.

The people of Bihar never gave him the majority even at his peak. He wants to sail through riding piggyback on the RJD. He stands exposed and those who supported him are disillusioned and leaving. The opposition’s meet will be nothing more than a show of defeated and rejected leaders. They cannot have a unanimous leader as there are too many.

Like in 2015, is the grand alliance banking on the electoral arithmetic?

A lot of water has flown down the Ganga since then. RJD basically remains an M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) party and that advantage it has managed to protect them to an extent. But beyond that, it will be tough. Janata Dal-United does not enjoy the aura it once did due to strong fissures in the Koeri-Kurmi-Dhanuk votes. The people who voted for Nitish don’t see any future in him. BJP has a number of leaders from the three communities on their side.

With Nitish’s credibility and influence on the decline and his age and health issues getting manifested in public time and again, he will be more of a liability for the GA. Congress in Bihar is nowhere to be seen. So, what happened in 2015 is history. In politics, the same formula does not always work. People have seen both JD-U’s opportunism and RJD’s misrule. Now, it is time for the BJP.

But Nitish Kumar is going all out for opposition unity?

This is ridiculous for a leader who does not even contest the election. He is a back-door politician who thrives on manipulation. What he is doing is only to prolong his stay in the chair, as he himself knows his time is up.

Despite everything, Lalu Prasad is a leader who has a vote bank, while Nitish has nothing. A weak Nitish means no scope for the JD-U.

Nitish is moving around the country to distract attention. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik showed him his place.

The opposition unity is a myth. No regional leader of substance will allow Nitish the space he wants. Trust deficit with him is the biggest handicap, as is the absence of a unanimous leader against a proven Narendra Modi.

Caste survey is one issue that can polarise backward classes and extremely backward classes in Bihar and elsewhere.

If polarisation takes place, BJP will benefit even more. BJP was instrumental in the caste survey, but Nitish complicated it, as he often does to corner all credit.

RJD was nowhere in the picture when the decision to conduct a caste survey was taken. If the government failed to defend its own decision in court, it reflects its intent. It is the state government that complicated the matter and that is Nitish’s style to play on both sides.

BJP is the only party that works for an inclusive society in the true sense. Other parties have an axe to grind, as they want to use caste to brighten the prospects of their leaders and their wards. Look around the country, you will find family politics thriving in the name of caste and creed. The people are also realising this. All the policies of the BJP government have been universal in nature with poor in focus.

How tough it will be for the BJP in ticket distribution? Are there fissures within the party?

We have to work on the ground and keep posted the party’s top leadership with ground realities. It is a disciplined cadre-based party, that has no room for personal ambition. The decision on ticket distribution will be made at the central level.

I was made the party president out of the blue. That sums up the BJP. It cannot happen in other parties. I was called by the PM and the Union home minister Amit Shah. Later, I also met BJP national president JP Nadda. I myself am from the backward class.

Nitish’s repeated U-turn politics has exposed him. BJP is gradually expanding its footprints. Many players will join the party or align with it. People know what caste means for a bunch of leaders.

Is BJP still hoping for yet another U-turn from Nitish Kumar?

Shah has categorically and repeatedly said there will be no room for Nitish in the BJP or the National Democratic Alliance. He has lost credibility and is now a spent force. The people are seeing how he is destroying the state by plunging it into lawlessness and corruption. He is targeting Hindus to appease another section to hide his own failures.

Now the time has come for the BJP to have its own chief minister (in Bihar). BJP has played the role of a kingmaker for far too long. Be it Karpoori Thakur or Lalu Prasad, they all became the chief minister with support from the BJP.

The party supported Nitish five times for the CM’s chair. BJP has got tired of carrying the burden of U-turn expert Nitish. Now he says Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (Bihar deputy CM) will be his heir, but Nitish knows this will not be acceptable to the people of Bihar. Nitish’s party will disintegrate on this. After 2024, BJP will win in 2025 (state assembly polls) also to have its own CM and add pace to Bihar’s growth, which PM Modi has always wanted.