Bihar polls: In Purnea to pep up BJP workers, Amit Shah harps on development versus ‘jungle raj’

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This region will vote in the last phase on November 5, but Shah was here to lift the cadres’ morale. The region is Muslim-dominated, and hence the BJP’s weakest link. The AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and leaders of other parties are expected here next week, and Shah was setting the stage for the counter-attack.

“Bihar is a backward state, and Seemanchal is Bihar’s most backward region. If the BJP comes to power, we will give the most attention to Seemanchal,” Shah said, as the BJP’s two Muslim candidates in Seemanchal, Azizur Rahman from Biasi and Saba Zafer from Amaur, sat on the dais.

Shah’s speech focussed largely on Lalu’s “jungle raj”, Nitish Kumar’s “betrayal”, and the endless possibilities of development in Bihar with the help of the “youth, the Ganga, and the fertile plains”.

He told the audience, “Purnea’s farmers get the lowest price of maize in India. That is why we need parivartan. Change cannot come through the partnership of Nitish and Lalu. They have divided society in the name of forward and backward castes. Bihar is still scared of Lalu’s rule. Why? Tell me!”

The crowd responded, “Jungle raj, jungle raj.”

The BJP chief also mocked “Rahul baba” for referring to the continued firing on the border with Pakistan. “I want to tell Rahul baba, when there was the Sonia-Manmohan government, the firing used to be both started and ended by the Pakistani army. But now, the Indian Army has the last word. “Vahaan se goli aati hai, yahaan se gola jaata hai, tab vahaan se golibari bandh hoti hai.”

Shah has built his campaign strategy on five fundamentals. One, he believes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image has not suffered in Bihar since the Lok Sabha election and, two, he prefers not to look at statistics, but rather depend on the BJP’s organisation and the RSS’s reach in the state.

Three, Shah wants to touch at least 30 per cent of the over 6.6 crore voters in Bihar. In Shah’s scheme of things, there is great emphasis on “touching, meeting and communicating with voters”, and he repeatedly tells his cadres to go out and make eye contact with as many people as they can. He has given them a target of mobilising 2 lakh-plus voters every day for campaign meetings. The BJP says Modi’s 20 rallies will see a mobilization of 25 lakh people — which, taking into account the families of those who attend, will ensure some 1 crore people will be “moved”. The BJP is also trying to reach out to some 40 lakh youths through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and SMS.

Four, the BJP has attempted to focus on some 140 seats where it is weak because these seats were contested by the JD(U) when the parties were together.

Five, the BJP now accepts that caste is the key factor on the ground, and claims that it had anticipated this even before RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks pushed it to the top of the electioneering agenda.

Shah’s camp argues that if the 35 per cent Yadav-Muslim-Kurmi vote goes to the grand alliance, the NDA will be gifted with the remaining 65 per cent, including the forward castes. This calculation, however, does not factor in several groups including the Mahadalits, who are being targeted by all parties. The BJP’s success is likely to be more dependent on getting the undecided and floating voters with the Modi card.