Bihar: Tejashwi Single-Handedly Giving Tough Challenge to ‘Seasoned and Old’ Modi-Nitish

Patna: Young Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has been giving a tough time to old and seasoned politicians, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other top leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) during ongoing election campaign by his aggressive campaign. His body language, tone and choice of words are striking an emotional chord with voters, particularly youths, adding to his popularity, which is giving and edge to the Opposition Mahagathbandhan.

Tejashwi Yadav, who is a star campaigner for the Opposition alliance, has made it clear to voters that in Bihar, it is him versus all powerful NDA leaders. In one after another election meeting, he is heard saying: “Bihar mein akela 34 saal ka Tejashwi banam desh ke Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi, desh ke grih mantri Amit Shah, raksha mantri Rajnath Singh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh ke mukhyamantri, Union ministers, do deputy CMs of Bihar aur poora state cabinet". (It’s 34-year-old me versus, the PM, Home Minister, Defence Minister, the CMS of Assam, MP, UP, two deputy CMs and the entire state cabinet.”)

The RJD leader has been pointing out how top BJP leaders were flying in and out in several helicopters for the election campaign, as they have unlimited resources.

His election speeches are resonating with the people to a large extent, as top leaders of his allies, including Congress and Left parties, have visited Bihar only once or twice to campaign for their party candidates. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge visited the state twice for election campaign, Congress’s star campaigner Rahul Gandhi visited only once last month to campaign and Priyanka Gandhi is yet to visit. As a result, the entire Mahagathbandhan is fully dependent on Tejashwi Yadav for the election campaign.

The RJD leader’s strategy is to focus on highlighting the issues of "Rozgar-Naukri, Mehngai, Arakshan-Samvidhan" (employment, jobs, price rise, reservation and Constitution) to counter the high-powered NDA team of Modi, Nitish Kumar, Amit Shah, JP Nadda Rajnath Singh and Adityanath. This appears to be yielding results, as large crowds of youths, cutting across caste lines, have been thronging his election meetings.

What is worrying NDA leaders is that the problems of employment and price rise have become the talk of the town.

In every election meeting, Tejashwi is reminding people of how he provided nearly five lakh government jobs, mainly school teachers, during his 17-month rule as Deputy Chief Minister. He has also countered Modi by claiming that he had promised to hold a job ‘mela’ in Bihar.

This is probably first Lok Sabha elections in Bihar since Independence that a young face is challenging powerful leaders of the ruling alliance. Tejashwi has also emerged as a mass leader, who understands the ground reality and makes it a point to share anecdotes connect with the people.

On the other hand, Modi and other top BJP leaders are focusing on issues like Hindu-Muslim, Pakistan, Mandir, Mughals, Mangalsutra, Love Jihad and Parivarvaad, while Nitish Kumar is repeatedly making personal attacks against RJD chief Lalu Prasad for producing more children and is reminding people of the so-called ‘jungle raj’ (RJD’s 15-year rule) despite himself being in power since 2005.

However, Tejashwi has been single-handily hitting back asking questions about how much employment was given to youths in past 10 years (of Modi rule) how price rise had become a cause of crisis in each family, mostly poor, why youths are jobless, and how Modi has failed to fulfil the promises he made in earlier elections. 

"The people of Bihar are demanding details of works that benefit Bihar done by the BJP led NDA because it won 39 of 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and 33 of 40 in 2014 elections. But
instead of responding to people, Modi has been talking about Hindu-Muslim, Mandir-Masjid, Pakistan and Fish-Mutton. He is deliberately keeping silent on employment, jobs, price rise, poverty and development", Tejashwi reiterates in every election meeting.

On the ongoing election campaign in the state, Satyanarayan Madan, a political watcher, told NewsClick that Lalu Prasad was still popular and was known for his consistent stand against BJP since the early 1990s till date. “But now Tejashwi is on move to stop the ‘Modi Juggernaut’ in Bihar and is getting overwhelming support from all sections of the population to defeat the saffron party.”

"Tejashwi's stakes are high, and he is more concerned about stopping BJP from repeating its 2019 election performance when it won 39 of 40 Lok Sabha seats. His election campaign is being praised by all, and bound to harm BJP in the elections,” Madan said.

Another political watcher said the fear of Lalu Prasad “continues to haunt” BJP leaders in the state. “This is the reason that Modi and Shah never miss an opportunity to target Lalu. But Modi has forgotten that Lalu's credibility on fighting BJP is 100%, unlike the others. He has never compromised and joined hands with BJP," he said.

As the ailing Lalu Prasad has been confined to his residence and has not yet joined the election campaign, he has been quite active on social media. His younger son, Tejashwi, meanwhile, has been leading the campaign to take on Modi-Nitish-Shah by warning people that if the NDA comes to power, reservation will be finished and the Constitution will be changed, which is aimed at drawing support from the large population of OBCs (Other Backward Classes), EBCs (Extremely Backward Castes) and Dalits.

Tejashwi’s energy is quite visible as so far he has addressed more than 150 election meetings till date, ahead of fifth phase of elections on May 20 for five seats.

Taking on the resource-rich NDA star campaigners, the young RJD leader has also been claiming that he has turned his helicopter into a tractor. Ironically, this has affected his health and he is suffering from severe back pain and is unable to walk comfortably. The doctors have advised him complete bed rest and not to go for election campaign, but he is continuing to campaign by taking pain killers and injections.

PM Modi has already made six visit so far to campaign for NDA candidates and also held a road show in Patna on May 12, a first by a PM. This was widely seen as his “last bid” to change the mood in the elections, which is revolving around issues of jobs, price rise, inequalities, threat to reservation and the Constitution. He is set to visit the state on May 21 to address more election meetings.