In his election rallies on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted a historic victory for NDA and lowest seat tally for RJD and Congress this time.
Modi lashed out at Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, and said, “two yuvraj (princes) out on bail are busy making false promises to the people, hurling abuses and describing women fasting during Chhath Puja as drama”. He asked voters to teach these leaders a lesson.
Ailing RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad’s wife and former CM Rabri Devi came out to meet voters in Raghopur, where she canvassed for her son Tejashwi Yadav. Lalu’s other son Tej Pratap Yadav was chased away by RJD supporters.
There were incidents of violence. Jitanram Manjhi’s candidate faced a lethal attack and a Jan Suraaj Party worker was shot dead in Mokama.
Tejashwi Yadav is facing problems while campaigning for his allies. In Gauda Bauram constituency of Darbhanga district, where VIP chief and deputy CM face Mukesh Sahni’s brother Santosh Sahni is contesting against local RJD leader Afzal Khan, Tejashwi had a tough time explaining to voters to support Sahni.
Tejashwi Yadav told voters, there are alliance compulsions, Afzal Khan is a good leader and he will be given full respect after elections are over, but for now, RJD voters should cast their votes for Santosh Sahni.
Tejashwi’s problem is he can’t antagonise Muslim voters by using tough words against Afzal Khan, and at the same time, he can’t earn the displeasure of Mallah community voters by remaining silent. So, he took a middle path.
Already, RJD has expelled 27 rebel candidates and on Wednesday 10 more leaders were expelled from the party. On the other hand, 10 rebel Congress candidates are contesting and they have also been expelled. In at least 12 seats, grand alliance parties are engaged in ‘friendly contests’.
This seems to be the reason why Prime Minister Modi compared the alliance between Congress and RJD with ‘oil and water that can never mix’.
Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi had addressed joint rallies on Wednesday, but on Thursday both the leaders campaigned separately. In his rallies, Tejashwi Yadav’s line is quite different from that of Rahul.
Tejashwi avoids criticizing Adani and Ambani, he never attacks Modi personally, nor does he raises Rahul’s pet issue ‘vote chori’. He also did not defend Rahul’s remarks about Chhath Puja.
Tejashwi is targeting Amit Shah in all his rallies. He is describing Shah as an ‘outsider’. He tells voters, “this is Bihar and a Bihar will never fear an outsider”.
Tejashwi, no doubt, has a big support base and his meetings attract exuberant crowds. This time, Tejashwi has taken the entire burden of Mahagathbandhan on his shoulders and he is seeking votes for the alliance.
On Thursday in Mokama, a Jan Suraj Party leader was shot dead during a skirmish with Anant Singh’s supporters. Tejashwi lashed out saying, “Modi is raising issues (relating to jungle raj) which are 30 years old, but is silent about what happened in Mokama 30 minutes ago.”
The incident that happened in Mokama underlines the fact that the fear of gun still exists in Bihar elections. Use of pistols during polls still happens, but it is less compared to the Nineties.
I have witnessed those days when gangsters used to take contracts to capture polling booths at gunpoint. Everybody knew which gang dominated which area. These gangs and gangsters known as ‘bahubalis’ had carved out their areas of influence based on castes and religion.
The number of gangsters in Bihar politics has declined but their influence still remains. Gangsters no more contest elections, but they field their wives or children as candidates.
The Bihar elections are quite different from other states. Caste equations dominate in each constituency. In Seemanchal region, there is a clearcut divide in the name of religion. Questions are being raised about Nitish Kumar’s health. Issues of jungle raj and corruption cast shadows on Tejashwi Yadav’s political legacy.
In this battle, Prashant Kishor has made his entry with a new line of thoughts, but his party is fledgling. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has emerged as a big factor. Hence, it is difficult to predict what lies ahead.
Based on feedbacks that we have got from our reporters, Nitish-Modi combination appears to have an edge till now.

Much ado about Vande Mataram

Opposition parties like Congress and Samajwadi Party are up in arms over a Maharashtra government order directing all schools to collectively sing the full version of Vande Mataram song from October 31 till November 7, to commemorate the 150th anniversay of this song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Normally, only two stanzas of Vande Mataram are sung at public events, but schools in Maharashtra have been asked to sing the full version.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Sheikh demanded withdrawal of the government order. He alleged, the state government is trying implement RSS agenda in schools. Islamic cleric Maulana Aijaz Kashmiri said, Muslims children should not be forced to sing Vande Mataram because, in Islam, prayers can be offered only to Allah the Almighty.
Samajwadi party leader Abu Azmi said, the government order violated the Constitution which prescribes non-interference in freedom of practising religion. He said, it is akin to asking a Hindu to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’.
State minister Prabhat Lodha said, Vande Mataram is a patriotic song and it has nothing to do with religion.
It is true Vande Mataram song is a prayer offered to the motherland. Our scriptures say, ‘Janani Janmabhoomishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi’ (Mother and motherland are greater than heaven). I don’t think anybody should have any problem signing this song.
Some people are deliberately trying to make this a Hindu-Muslim issue. At the same time, my view is, nobody should be forced to sing. If anybody refuses to sing, there is no need to lodge a case against that person.
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