It is the rice-sowing season in Bihar but a new political crop has been sown in the form of the Nitish Kumar-Tejashwi Yadav alliance in the state again, with posters of the leaders in a hug dominating Patna’s landscape and an upbeat Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) ringing in the celebrations at its office.
Step out of Patna and in small towns and villages of the state, one finds resonance for Yadav as the next chief minister of Bihar in 2025 if he fulfills his 10 lakh jobs promise, but people are unsure if Kumar can be the prime ministerial face in 2024 to take on Narendra Modi. News18 travelled to the stronghold of CM Nitish Kumar in Nalanda and the Yadav family bastion of Raghopur in the Vaishali district to gauge the mood of the public.
Nalanda Split over Nitish’s Future
‘Prakriti aawashyata ki purti karti hai, parantu lalach ki nahin’ (Nature fulfills your necessities, not your greed)”: says a rather ironic poster with the chief minister’s face at the JD(U) head office in Patna. Travel two hours away to Nalanda, Kumar’s stronghold, and even here one often hears people referring to him as ‘Paltu Ram’, an image that is now overshadowing his ‘Vikas Purush’ pitch.
A smooth road built under the CM Sadak Yojana takes one to Kalyan Bigha, Kumar’s ancestral village. An e-rickshaw driver here says the chief minister will never become the prime minister as he does not do anything for the youth and works only for power and the chair. Sarwan Paswan, a co-passenger, says “Paltu Ram ki image hai Nitish ki, vikas parush woh the (his image is of Paltu Ram, he was earlier a Vikas Purush) but now people do not believe him anymore.”
Some villagers second this sentiment, saying they have not got much from Nitish Kumar. The women, however, point to writings dotting the walls here on prohibition to say what Kumar has done for them. “Sharab pikar jaoge toh ghar nahi paunch paoge, sharab ka jo ho shikar, uska ujda ghar parivaar. Mahilaon ka sapna hua sakaar, sharab-mukt hua Bihar” — as girls freely cycle in the villages here till late evenings, these writings on the wall stand as silent sentinels of how Kumar’s liquor-free Bihar has changed the lives of women.
There is a memorial in Kalyan Bigha village for Kumar’s late parents — freedom fighter Ram Lakhan Singh and mother Parmeshwari Devi. A new house is also being built with a bust of Devi in the verandah. A board here hails Kumar — ‘15 saal bemisal, CM for maximum term, Kalyan Bigha ke Laal, Apne kar diya kamaal, Aap hi Vikas purush, Aap ki Nitish Kumar’.
Kamleswar Prasad, a Kalyan Bigha resident, says the JD(U)-RJD combine is a better government as the BJP had brought in too much inflation. “Everything is expensive, ration is expensive. Nothing is cheap now. Kumar has a chance to be PM also. Nitish ji ache hain, unka jo bi sahyog diya, wohi hamare liye acha hai (Nitish is a good man, whoever supports him is good for us). He should now go for PM chair, unke vichar ache hai (he has good ideas),” he says.
Bakhtiyarpur speaks of jobs
Ten kilometers from here, in Bakhtiarpur town, which is the birthplace of Kumar and where he grew up, the talk is more about Tejashwi Yadav’s 10 lakh jobs promise.
Right opposite Kumar’s house here is a small shop run by Ravi Kant. “This new alliance is good for the state because no jobs came in the two-and-a-half years of NDA government. I did not get a job after graduating and completing software engineering so I opened a shop. Let’s see if Tejashwi lives up to his promise. If he does not deliver, people will look for another option. If the public wants, they can make Nitish Kumar PM too, woh PM layak hain,” Ravi Kant told News18.
On the main road of Bakhtiyarpur, eateries serve kulhad tea and ‘litti chokha’. Two Muslim youngsters here say everyone is enthused about Yadav’s promise of 10 lakh government jobs. “The promise will be fulfilled and youth are really happy about the RJD in power now. The biggest issue is unemployment,” Md Miraj says.
His friend Chand Sarovar Khan says 10 lakh jobs is a big issue and, in fact, more jobs are needed. “Youngsters are waiting for jobs, vacancies are few. If Tejashwi Yadav gives jobs, people will bring him back. I have done MSc but I don’t have a job. We are Muslims and are being boycotted for jobs. We are forced to go abroad for employment. Tejashwi Yadav is aware of the problems of the youth,” Khan says.
Some others, however, do not welcome the new alliance. Mohd Tabriz Akhtar, who belongs to Bhagalpur, says such political changes are not good as they will stop development. “We had Shahnawaz Hussain as Industries Minister from Bhagalpur who started new schemes. Those could stop now,” he says. However, Akhtar quickly adds: “Nitish Kumar is an experienced leader. We want to see him as the future PM.”
But Amarnath Kumar from Begusarai says Kumar is no match for Narendra Modi. “In the next election, Nitish Kumar will not perform well. RJD seats will increase if Tejashwi performs and does what he has promised. Nitish Kumar’s image has fallen. It is an illusion that he can be PM, it is simply not possible. There is no leader in the world, forget India, who can defeat Modi,” Kumar says, as others nod along.
In Raghopur, CM Dreams on a Boat
Tejashwi hoga Bihar, sapne honge sakaar (Bihar will be Tejashwi, dreams will be fulfilled) is the new slogan at the RJD office in Patna amidst an upbeat cadre saying nothing can now stop Tejashwi Yadav from being the next chief minister in 2025.
Travelling two hours from here through the reconstructed steel Ganga bridge, Mahatma Gandhi Setu, takes one from Patna to Hajipur — once the bastion of Ram Vilas Paswan — and onwards to Raghopur, the citadel of the Yadav family since three decades which Tejashwi Yadav represents as an MLA.
Here, the 10 lakh jobs promise has struck a chord and people speak of Bihar government seeking a report on vacancies and work beginning on it. But to get to Raghopur, one has to take an hour-long boat ride over a near four-km-long expanse of the Ganga River as Raghopur is virtually an island with no road bridge connectivity. Work on a bridge began in 2016 when Tejashwi Yadav was deputy CM and now, people hope this will finally be completed.
Kundan Singh of Chechar village in Raghopur says the constituency has given three chief ministers from the Yadav family — Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav — but their condition has not changed and they don’t have any access besides by boat. “Ten lakh jobs is not possible till Tejashwi becomes chief minister…he should become CM next time,” Singh says.
Another local here, Narinder Kumar, says if Tejashwi Yadav performs well now, he can be chief minister in 2025. “Nitish kisi ke nahin hain, unko sirf kursi pyara hai, janta pyaari nahi hai (Nitish belongs to no one, he only loves the chair, not the public). If that wasn’t the case, he would not have done this — sometimes [he sides with] RJD, sometimes BJP…he is not able to take independent decisions. He has no astitva (standing),” Kumar says. A co-passenger on the boat taking us to Raghopur, Siwan Paswan, says Nitish Kumar is palti-maar. “What do we believe him for? He has lost all credibility.”
The boat-man, Mohd Mehboob, asks: “Kya daru band hai? Ghar, ghar bik raha hai, Home delivery hai…bacha bacha pi raha hai (Prohibition is just in name, liquor is being sold freely). Even more liquor is being sold in Bihar than before prohibition. People are dying due to spurious liquor. If Tejashwi Yadav becomes chief minister, Bihar will go far ahead.”
A Warning from Women
A group of women in Hajipur sounded a note of caution about the new alliance over the law and order situation, saying the old days of jungle-raj during RJD regime should not return. “The earlier government was better, they worked for women. Narendra Modi works for women; cylinders, toilets, free ration — Modi has given it all. Prohibition also worked well in Bihar,” Anita Devi said. Her neighbour Savita complains that “Lalu Prasad’s people did lot of gundagardi, we fear those dark days will return”.
However, the RJD says it has transformed and a new party under a young Tejashwi Yadav has emerged. “Ummeed, Bharosa (Belief, Trust)” says the slogan with a huge Tejashwi Yadav photo as one enters the RJD office in Patna. Ensuring law and order and giving 10 lakh jobs is Tejashwi Yadav’s litmus test in the road towards 2025 as Nitish Kumar plans his ambitious pitch as Opposition’s prime ministerial face in 2024.
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