Bihar for the first time will witness an extraordinary election battle between the incumbent prime minister and the chief minister. Apparently there is no tangible reason for Modi to put his head on the electoral altar. But he is left with no alternate. He cannot leave the Bihar assembly elections to his state party leaders. Except Delhi assembly election, Modi is credited with the ensuring the victory of the BJP in all the elections held after 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But a little insight into the electoral results will make it explicit that the victories were gifted to Modi led BJP.

Maharashtra was handed over to Modi on platter by NCP leader Sharad Pawar. In Jharkhand, the protégé of Congress vice chief Rahul Gandhi ensured the victory of the BJP. No one knows it better than Modi and now he wants a convincing win for reinforcing his authority which of late has come under scrutiny of the senior leaders of the party.

On July 16, the day the BJP chief Amit Shah flagged off the NDA’s parivartan campaign in Patna, he made known to the political fraternity that the ensuing Bihar assembly election was battle between Modi and Nitish. The stalwarts from Bihar like Shishil Kumar Modi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Shahnawaz Hussain have no significant role to play. Highly critical of Nitish Kumar who Shah alleged had ruined Bihar, after severing his ties with the BJP, called upon the people; now comes the time to avenge that betrayal. He also appealed to a common Bihari to hand over his destiny to Modi as he holds the key to a bright and prosperous future of the state.

His thrust on handing over the destiny should be viewed in proper perspective. For him electing a BJP government was not merely a political agenda. His real thrust was a win for BJP would reinforce the authority of Modi. It is not that BJP was going to the election for the first time. On all previous occasions the election management wrested with the state leadership. This time the BJP was making a departure. Ironically, he made the state leadership look like a dwarf when he said, “Modi is the only man who can put Bihar on development path. This assembly election is a very important event. None should take it lightly.”

And finally his punch line “the impact of outcome will not only be limited to Bihar, instead it echo and resonate all over the country, even in the corridors of power” made in absolutely clear that Bihar assembly elections was crucial for the political survival of Modi. Political importance of Bihar elections got reflected in the jibes that Modi used against Nitish. Modi said 'Shayadunka DNA hi kharabhai. Parliamentary democracy ka aisa DNA nahin hota (There's something wrong in the DNA. This kind of DNA is not found in parliamentary democracy).' He used this word while narrating the incident of Nitish cancelling the dinner hosted for Modi in 2010. He said Nitish Kumar nurtured personal grievances with him which is unhealthy in democracy and added that instead of throwing the state again into jungle raj Nitish Kumar should have settled his cores with him at personal level in closed door room.

Modi said: 'I felt very bad, bhojan par bulakar koi thali chhinta hai kya? (Does somebody invite you for dinner and then snatch the plate away?) But I kept my feelings to myself until I saw Jitan Ram Manjhi being meted the same treatment. And then I recognized that the problem lies in his very DNA. This was typical of a self-centred man who ditched people like George Fernandes, Manjhi and Sushil Modi.' Little doubt this nature of jibe does not behoove to the person holding the office of prime minister. Retorting sharply at the remarks of Modi for describing him as habitual betrayer and for dubbing his DNA as defective, Nitish Kumar said that the DNA of Bihar is strong and every Bihari has the capacity to reply over such remarks. Kumar described it as an 'affront of the entire state and its people'. 'You have not properly studied the DNA of Biharis ... There is a famous saying 'ek Bihari sab pebhari (one Bihari is more strong than everybody).” Replying to the remark, Nitish tweeted, 'Modiji said my DNA is bad. I am Bihar's son and in that case my DNA is the DNA of Biharis. Now I leave it on the people of Bihar how they give an answer to the person who has called their DNA bad.'

Alleging that Nitish back stabbed the people of Bihar, Modi said: 'Nitish Kumar has hurt the people of Bihar because of his anger at me. ...you (Nitish) throttled the development of Bihar because of your problems with one man (read Modi).' Promising a better life for people if the BJP-led NDA is voted to power, he asked the gathering: 'Do you want change in Bihar? Do you want peace? Do you want freedom from unemployment? Do you want liberation from a 'goonda raj'?' And then said: 'If you want all of these things, give us an opportunity. We will deliver all of these to you in just seven months.' 'If he did not like me, he could have slapped me. He could have even slapped me instead of letting Bihar down,' said Modi in a dramatic style. It is absolutely clear that Modi by using the word DNA has handed over a stick to Nitish to beat the BJP.

On July 25, Muzaffarpur had turned into an open theatre where Modi’s approach to the electioneering provided the glimpse of his desperation. He was staking his name and prestige to ensure a win. It was at this Nitish quipped; it appears he wants to get the additional charge of chief minister of Bihar by requesting people to give an opportunity to serve them. Under attack from the senior leaders of his party Modi is desperate to salvage the situation. A defeat would mar his future and diminish his stature. Losing the Bihar election would provided the right ammunition to his detractors and senior leaders like L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar to strike ruthlessly which even the RSS will find tough to deflect.

Senior party MP Shanta Kumar criticised the Modi government over Vyapam and Lalit Modi controversy. In his letter to Amit Shah he said Vyapam scam 'made all of us bow our heads in shame'. He wrote we came to power, and became a ruling party… people started making compromises with those values, and here began the politics of power. What has eroded the credibility of the party is easing out of Advani of all party positions that he has held since the birth of the BJP. His name does not figure in the two highest decision making bodies - the parliamentary board and central election committee - both of which were reconstituted a week back by Shah. Incidentally Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi’s names have also been dropped from the two top bodies of the party. While Vajpayee has been physically incapacitated Advani (87) has been physically fit and fine. The man or the men credited to have built the party have virtually been shown the door, that too when the party is at the pinnacle of its glory. The move has hurt the cadres hard. (IPA Service)