However Bhagalpur address was totally different not only in contents but also in emphasis. One could almost sense the return of NaMo who had aggressively fought the last Lok Sabha election on the agenda formulated by him. The change was obvious as it was different in character and form. The Sangh had been handling the Bihar election battle so far as it was determined to context the election on the old BJP agenda with minimum role assigned to the prime minister and his agenda. Sushil Modi who was the deputy chief minister in the coalition government of Nitish Kumar was pushed to the margins without ascribing any reason for it. It was rumoured that in eight years he had developed close relations with Nitish Kumar to effectively lead the BJP against him. In reality, his OBC status did not suit the Sangh needs. The Sangh also could not risk naming the commander of the election campaign who would automatically take over as the chief minister. It could not risk naming an upper caste leader for the fear of arousing passions among the OBCs who would vote for the party. It also could not put forward an OBC leader to counter the combine of Nitish and Lalu Yadav.
The leadership also could not decide whether the BJP should attempt to fight the election on its own strength or retain the partners who were in coalition in the Lok Sabha polls. It also showed no haste to work out shares of partners in 243 seats of the assembly as no discussions were organized with the partners if they were to be retained even though Nitish Kumar succeeded not only in convincing Lalu Yadav and the Congress president Sonia Gandhi to unite their strength to prevent effectively division in the anti BJP vote in the state. He also worked out shares of three in total seats. He did not bother to carry other small parties as he did not want to invite more trouble than votes they could bring in. In fact all three partners had decided their candidates and put them to the election work long before formal announcement of the elections.
The BJP high command showed no enthusiasm over the seat sharing agreement till the two main partners, Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Bilas Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Kushwaha did not go public suggesting that BJP should get same number of seats to fight as were given by Nitish Kumar in the last election and remaining 142 seats be left to the alliance partners. Their defiance compelled the party chief Amit Shah to hold meeting with them and also invite Jitan Ram Majhi who had also jumped on the band wagon. Three hours exercise ended without any conclusion. The BJP wanted two third seat numbers left to it and one third by shared by three alliance partners. Shah wanted to end dependence of the party on others to retain power in the state.
The BJP launched its Parivartan Yatra, usual party gimmick in Bihar but only a day after the Prime Minister addressed a rally. The home Minister Raj Nath Singh and the central minister Anant Kumar both important party functionaries before NaMo took over launched the important event though it could have been organized a day earlier with the Prime Minister sending his chariot. Why it was not done is a question that surely leaves a scope to believe that the party did not want to assign a large role to NaMo in Bihar elections.
The roar by Hardik Patel in Delhi and support and endorsement by 24 Khaps of North West India changed the scenes over night. Narendra Modi was back to his original self, no more playing second fiddle. He virtually asserted that it was a battle of the NDA and appealed to vote the NDA government in the state for speedier change in Bihar. He also ensured that all three leaders had a place on the dais and he specifically mentioned their names as colleagues.
It needs to be remembered that the strong reaction of the Upper castes to grant of reservations to OBCs by the Prime Minister VP Singh in August 1990 laid foundations for consolidation of OBCs as a political group. It ejected out the upper castes from power corridors both in Bihar and UP. Now the upper castes have their eyes set on what they got only twenty five years ago and demanding a share or abolition of the discriminatory political intervention. It is mostly likely to revive their fears of loss of every advantage they got from the rule of their class if the upper castes succeed. NaMo will strive to keep emphasis on the economic development of all without allowing the caste and class considerations to colour vision that makes a political mind of voters. Nitish Kumar and Lalu have been given on a platter an issue that they can easily exploit. The script was written in Gujarat but its impact will be in Bihar.
India
Reservation Issue May Impact Outcome of Bihar Elections
Vijay Sanghvi - 2015-09-22 10:16
The storm raised by the crescendo of demand for a share in reservations for Other Backward Classes has a potential of impacting the prospects in the assembly polls in Bihar due next month. The threat held by the confused but fierce young man of Gujarat to rope in farming communities from other states in demand for a share in reservation can be exploited by leaders to their advantage, that built their political set ups by espousing causes and interests of OBCs. Fears of an adverse impact on the poll prospects, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have handed over the electoral battle to the care of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aggressive approach and emphasis on the economic development in his address to the massive election rally at Bhagalpur on Tuesday suggests that he has taken over the command. He had earlier addressed two rallies at Muzffarpur and Saharsa in last week of August but emphasis was only in criticizing the state government for its failure on the economic development. His veiled attack on the chief minister Nitish Kumar did not contain his usual material of building a new dream.