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Bihar polls: In Grand Alliance bastion, a fight between job promises and ‘Sushashan’ pitch
The Magadh division has been a bastion of the Grand Alliance, which won 20 of the 26 seats in the region five years ago
A festive mood grips the otherwise sleepy neighbourhood of Khandil village in Gaya district as the local RJD candidate arrives for his election campaign, with loudspeakers blaring a song: “Lalu bina chalu e Bihar na hoi (This Bihar cannot run without Lalu Prasad)”.
The ruling NDA has been targeting the RJD-led grand alliance, reminding the voters of the “jungle raj” during the Lalu Prasad’s regime. At a rally in Aurangabad last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Earlier people could not come out after sunset. This area was also known for Maoist killings. But when the ‘Jungle-raj’ government was gone, you brought in ‘Sushashan’ (good governance) under the leadership of (chief minister) Nitish Kumar.”
In the battle between two central narratives—Mahagathbandhan’s promise of a government job to each household and the NDA’s jibes of ‘jungle raj’ and its pitch for good governance track record under Nitish Kumar—the south west Bihar may decide the fate of RJD leader and Opposition’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav in the ongoing polls. The entry of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party has spiced things up in the Magadh division.
Comprising of Arwal, Aurangabad, Jahanabad, Gaya and Nawada districts, the Magadh division has been a bastion of the Grand Alliance, which won 20 of the 26 seats in the region five years ago while the remaining seats went to the NDA. In Rohtas and Kaimur, the remaining two districts in south west Bihar, the Opposition grouping had won 10 more seats while the BJP could not open its account.
“It is definitely the bastion of the Grand Alliance and Tejashwi Yadav’s hopes to become the CM pins on this area. The politics is more complicated and layered. It can boost Tejashwi’s chances in a neck and neck contest,” Gaya-based political analyst Abdul Qadir said.
The Grand Alliance’s emphasis on poll promises aims to counter a key factor in this region: Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which are now part of the NDA, unlike in 2020.
In Navinagar, a constituency that possibly epitomises the fight for south west Bihar, Opposition bloc’s candidate Amod Chandravanshi, an EBC, is fighting against Chetan Anand, son of strongman Anand Mohan Singh, who was serving a life term in a bureaucrat’s murder, but is now out of jail following the Nitish Kumar government’s amendment to jail rules in 2023.
Campaigning at Sinuria village, Chandravanshi asks people not to focus on his caste but to consider the promises made by Tejashwi Yadav. “Job and education are key issues. We are catering to raging issues,” he told HT.
In 2020, both Kushwaha and Paswan had damaged the NDA’s prospects in some seats in south west Bihar. In Kargahar of Rohtas district, Congress got 30.9% votes and the JD(U) bagged 28.8% while LJP secured 8.8% votes. In Bodh Gaya, the RJD got 42.4% votes and the BJP 39.9% while Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP (now RLM) got 4.9% votes. With both Paswan and Kushwaha firmly with the NDA, the alliance hope to breach the Grand Alliance’s strongest bastion.
“It will be a close contest this time. The key question is can Tejashwi get enough youth votes to balance the high rate of women’s vote for Nitish Kumar? If he can, he will be the next CM,” former Bihar home secretary and political analyst Afzal Amanullah said.
