BJP general secretary in charge of Bihar Bhupendra Yadav clarifies that the NDA’s campaign in the State is based on development work done under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Lok Janshakti Party is not part of this arrangement.
It is being said that the Lok Janshakti Party’s decision to fight alone in Bihar is some sort of Plan B by the BJP to break the big brother status of Janata Dal (U) in the NDA in Bihar? What do you say?
These conspiracy theories are laughable. The BJP has only one plan in the election and that is to fight it along with the JD(U). We have spelt out that plan but in case there is some confusion, I am spelling it out again. BJP will contest on 121 of the 243 seats, the JD(U) will fight on 122 . The JD(U) will accommodate Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) under its quota of seats, while BJP will accommodate Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) . That is the only plan we have.
LJP is not a part of this arrangement because the party chose to fight alone . The NDA is fighting for development in Bihar under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and vision, with Nitish Kumar as the undisputed chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.
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There is talk that many BJP leaders, desirous of fighting polls on seats now given to JD(U) in the seat adjustment will be fighting on an LJP ticket. What will be the attitude of the party if that happens?
Anyone who has left the BJP to fight an election on the ticket of any other party, including LJP, is to be considered as a person ousted from the BJP. As I have stated, we are fighting the election in alliance with JD(U) and have mutually agreed upon seat-sharing deal with them. These are rumours being spread by the opposition to confuse voters. But the voters are smart enough to see through the ploy.
As for the LJP, I see them as a highly confused lot. It is not even clear who the LJP is fighting against . They say they are against RJD, but the LJP leader has gone on to congratulate RJD leader Tejashwi Pratap Yadav. They are fighting the NDA, but at the Centre, they continue to have ministerial berth in the NDA government.
Their own party is ridden with infighting with allegations and counter-allegations of the leadership selling party tickets. LJP needs to do some hard thinking to figure out what exactly they want.
What will be the NDA’s campaign points with regard to the Bihar polls?
The NDA has entered the election with the slogan of “Atmanirbhar Bihar”. A lot of work has been done by the NDA government on issues of roads, power and water. Prime Minister Modi has launched fisheries and animal husbandry projects worth more than ₹20,000 crore in Bihar. Urban infrastructure projects worth ₹541 crore have been launched. For migrant workers, the Prime Minister Modi has extended the distribution of free ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till Chhath Puja in November.
Over the last few years people in Bihar have been receiving benefits under Ujjwala Yojana and other benefits through DBTs, which earlier were just promises. This relentless development work will continue in Bihar under the vision of PM Modi and chief ministership of Nitish Kumar.
These are the first polls being held since the COVID19 pandemic broke out, and there are worries that voters, especially middle class may not turn up in large numbers. Do you have a strategy for turning out the vote?
As much as 89% of Bihar’s population is rural. The Election Commission has reduced the maximum number of voters per booth from 1,500 to 1,000. It has also increased polling stations from about 65,000 to 1 lakh. To ensure the voter gets to the polling booth, the NDA in Bihar has organised door-to-door campaign across 3,000 panchayats.
The BJP has given a lot more tickets to women. They are active participants in electoral politics. This will also help attract more women to vote. More people-connect programmes will be undertaken because there is no doubt that there is a pandemic but the process of democracy must not be weakened. For democracy to be strengthened, it is important that people participate in elections and seek accountability from their leaders.
None of this shall happen at the cost of social distancing and other norms in place. The Election Commission is overseeing it and as the party in power, NDA too will do everything to ensure no one’s safety is compromised and that people feel confident enough to come out and vote.
The poll is being billed as BJP Vs RJD. Do you agree with this characterisation?
The election is NDA versus UPA. The NDA has BJP, JD(U), HAM and VIP. We are together solidly and will form the government when the election results are announced on November 10.
As for the UPA, I am reminded of Mohammed Rafi’s famous song Ek dil ke tukde hazar hue, koi yahaan gira koi wahaan gira (The heart has broken into a 1,000; pieces falling here and there). This so-called Mahagathbandhan first forced HAM to leave, then they back-stabbed Mukesh Sahni’s VIP, forcing them out of the coalition. Even the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has decided to fight on its own. So the UPA alliance is signalling that it has no place for backwards, Mahadalits and tribals; instead there are tying up with the Ultra Left who are part of the tukde-tukde gang, interested in violent struggle to divide India. The only thing binding the UPA constituents is hunger for power now.
I want to use this opportunity to ask the Congress, what drove it to join hands with the Ultra Left, Maoist Leninist party, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), along with CPI(M) and CPI?
