Bihar Elections - His Base Shrinking, Nitish Hopes Voter Cheering Modi Will Carry Him Along - Elections News, The Indian Express

10/31/2020 Bihar elections: His base shrinking, Nitish hopes voter cheering Modi will carry him along
ll carry him along | Elections News,The Indian Express
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Home / Elections / Bihar elections: His base shrinking, Nitish hopes voter cheering Modi will carry him along
Bihar elections: His base

shrinking, Nitish hopes voter
cheering Modi will carry him
along
For the first time in 15 years in Bihar, Nitish is at the receiving end of, not in
the driving seat of, the desire for change.
W ritten by Vandita Mishra | Hajipur, Muzaffarpur | Updated: October 31, 2020 7:57:22 am
https://indianexpress.com/elections/bihar-elections-2020-nitish-kumar-narendra-modi-6910714/ 1/13
10/31/2020 Bihar elections: His base shrinking, Nitish hopes voter cheering Modi will carry him along | Elections News,The Indian Express
INDO-US 2+2 DIAL

Rajnath skip
one told inte
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during an election rally, at the
veterinary ground in Patna, Wednesday. (PTI)
Anti-incumbency does not quite describe it. This election is dealing two cruel
ironies to Nitish Kumar. One, for the first time in 15 years in Bihar, he is at the
receiving end of, not in the driving seat of, the desire for change.
It’s a deep and dramatic shift: A leader seen and celebrated as the hero of Bihar’s
Great Turnaround Story, is now seen as a figure of Old Guard, the obstacle for
repair and progress, not the righteous vehicle for it.
After all, it was Nitish who restored the authority of the State after the slide
presided over by Lalu Prasad, who had scripted a radical upending of caste
inequalities but did not, or could not, take the next step: stitch the politics of
social justice with an agenda of governance.
Bihar Election Update: From Mayawati on BJP, to Nitish Kumar on reserva

INDO-US 2+2 DIAL
Rajnath skip
one told inte
Nitish was the Mandal leader adept at social engineering who also became
Sushasan Babu. His government took steps to empower the extremely backward
castes, Mahadalits and women, while transforming the Bihar landscape with
interventions in law and order, building roads and bridges, providing electricity
and cycles for schoolgirls.
The second irony is more savage: Even as Nitish voters show signs of division and
alienation, the section that seems to be holding fast for him is made of mostly
upper caste voters who pledge loyalty more vehemently to Narendra Modi —
Nitish’s erstwhile bitter opponent and now awkward ally.
Read | In BJP bastion Bhagalpur, a contender: ‘unguided missile’ LJP
While the BJP and JD(U) have gone into this election as the NDA coalition, and
even though Nitish is its declared CM candidate, many degrees of separation lie
between the two men. There is no Nitish on the Modi poster, and no Modi rebuke
for Chirag Paswan who pledges loyalty to Modi as he puts up candidates against
Nitish. Stories abound of the BJP cadre taking the cue on the ground, joining the
LJP campaign and maintaining its distance from the JD(U).
INDO-US 2+2 DIAL

Rajnath skip
one told inte
Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, right, greets Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, left during a
campaign ahead of Bihar state Assembly elections in Patna. (AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui)
For the Chief Minister who kept Modi out of the Bihar campaign and famously
cancelled a dinner for the BJP ahead of the 2010 election because hoardings in
Patna featured the then Gujarat CM Modi’s largesse for the Kosi flood-affected,
for the leader who raised the secularism flag and walked out of the NDA in 2013
because Modi was being projected as its PM candidate, dependence on the
steadfast Modi voter to help him through to a fourth term must surely be a bitter
pill.
However, Modi may be coming to Nitish’s aid only in limited ways — mostly
among the upper castes, who are still haunted by vivid spectres of what they
label as Lalu’s “jungle raj”. INDO-US 2+2 DIAL
Rajnath skip
Among the backward castes and Dalits — where, too, passion for Modi seems one told inte
undimmed — Nitish must contend with an increasing clamour for a “badlav” or

“parivartan” that he is seen to be on the wrong side of.
Explained | Nitish govt’s triple C motto, and why there’s no mention of it in

the Bihar polls
In the most immediate sense, it has to do with something that befell him,
something he is seen as not having coped well with — the pandemic that
sharpened economic distress. The urgent throb in this election of the question of
rozgar, or jobs, is an outcome.
In a larger sense, however, Nitish is now seen as unable to engage and address
aspirations that he himself has played such a great role in laying the ground for.
Bihar Polls
His base shrinking, Nitish hopes voter cheering Modi will carry him along
In BJP bastion Bhagalpur, a contender: ‘unguided missile’ LJP
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh: The silent partner, with a big say
CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE
In the Ravidas (SC) tola of village Sarai Matiara, district Vaishali, Manju Devi
starts the conversation: “Nitish gave us electricity… school uniforms for our
children. We are also getting the free atta-dal-chawal in the pandemic. We are
surviving because of Nitish”. Immediately, agitatedly, Kishan Ram, who says he
has voted for Nitish in the last three elections, counters her by telling a story that,
in this state of migrants, is not his alone.
“I work as a rickshaw puller in Delhi, had to walk back home when the lockdown
began. Now I have no work, no money to go back to the city. The only thing I
haven’t yet been driven to do is to beg.”
So what if the government gives free rice and wheat, he asks. “We got that even
in the time of Indira Gandhi. And is 5 kg a person for a month enough? We are
INDO-US
Dalits. We don’t have anything, no land, no money, to fall back on”. Things could 2+2 DIAL
get better if the government changes, “sarkar paltega toh…”. Rajnath skip
one told inte
In the neighbouring cluster of fruitsellers, Mohammad Allauddin’s sons have also

had to come back, leaving jobs in Chhattisgarh. “We cannot go out to make a
living, our melas and festivals have also been shut down, while their political
rallies are open and free. Is the virus only for us?” Many point to the unfairness
of a lockdown that allows election congregations, but clamps down on all work
and religious gatherings.
The migrant’s return in the pandemic also appears to have stoked a deeper
questioning in Bihar, of which Nitish bears the brunt.
In Phulwaria village of Mahua Vidhan Sabha constituency, young Dilip Paswan

asks: “What is this vikas (development) if we need to go out of our state, to Delhi
and Haryana and Maharashtra, to make a living? If we had jobs here, why
would we need to go out? What use is this double-engine sarkar (JD-U in state,
BJP at Centre), if we must leave our home?”
Change is needed, says Abhishek Dhawan, in village Rattanpur of district

Muzaffarpur, because Bihar is falling behind in the “raftar” or speed of
development. Abhishek is a Dalit student who is a beneficiary of the student’s
credit card scheme which is part of Nitish government’s ‘Saat Nishchay’ or seven-
resolves programme. He articulates another recurring voter unease in this
election: “The nal jal yojana (also a part of Saat Nishchay) is being implemented
without consideration of local needs or due diligence on the quality or mineral
content of water. The money spent unthinkingly in schemes could have been
more productively invested in education, or to create jobs”.
If among the backward castes and Scheduled Castes, a discontent born of an

incomplete or inadequate empowerment is making itself heard, on the other side
of the caste divide, Nitish finds himself damned by faint praise.
“Nitish is better, not best” says Trilok Ranjan, in the Rajput cluster in village
Matiara, district Vaishali. “But we have no option. We cannot vote for Lalu’s son,
or his indisciplined party.”
INDO-US 2+2 DIAL
Rajnath skip
Fear of “Lalu raj” also softens and tempers assessments of Nitish rule on the one told inte
campus of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University in Muzaffarpur, as a

group of professors discuss the election.
They berate Nitish for “policies to win cheap popularity”, a euphemism for the
perceived tilt towards backward castes. But “how can Tejashwi be the
alternative? You cannot compare the two”, says Sri Prakash Pandey. It is all very
well to talk of change, says Sunil Kumar Mishra, but “parivartan needs ashwasan
(trust and reassurance)”. “The old phuhadpan (coarseness) is back in the
political discourse, you can see it”, says Manoj Kumar.
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TAGS: Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 Narendra Modi Nitish Kumar
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10/31/2020 Bihar elections: His base shrinking, Nitish hopes voter cheering Modi will carry him along

ll carry him along | Elections News,The Indian Express

ENGLISH த ழ் বাংলা മലയാളം िहंदी मराठी

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Bihar elections: His base

INDO-US 2+2 DIAL

Bihar Election Update: From Mayawati on BJP, to Nitish Kumar on reserva

Read | In BJP bastion Bhagalpur, a contender: ‘unguided missile’ LJP

INDO-US 2+2 DIAL

undimmed — Nitish must contend with an increasing clamour for a “badlav” or

Explained | Nitish govt’s triple C motto, and why there’s no mention of it in

In BJP bastion Bhagalpur, a contender: ‘unguided missile’ LJP

CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE

In the neighbouring cluster of fruitsellers, Mohammad Allauddin’s sons have also

In Phulwaria village of Mahua Vidhan Sabha constituency, young Dilip Paswan

Change is needed, says Abhishek Dhawan, in village Rattanpur of district

If among the backward castes and Scheduled Castes, a discontent born of an

campus of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University in Muzaffarpur, as a

© The Indian Express (P) Ltd

TAGS: Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 Narendra Modi Nitish Kumar

US Elections 2020 Live updates: Election

Kajal Aggarwal ties the knot with Gautam

KXIP vs RR Predicted Playing 11, IPL 2020

Crisis on LAC worst in

Rajnath skipped China

How to read the Index

PUBG Mobile FAQ: All

'Ant-Man' Paul Rudd

Disney World to lay off

Novak Djokovic crushed

Explained Ideas: Why

98.6°F vs new normal:

Explained: Why is there

From Waste to Art: In

US Elections 2020 Bihar Election 2020

The Indian Express ieTamil.com

The Financial Express ieBangla.com

The ExpressGroup MyInsuranceClub

26/11 Stories of Strength Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards

T&C Privacy Policy

Advertise with Us Contact Us

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