How Tejashwi Yadav, smarting from Nitish Kumar's U-turn, is all set to give BJP-JD(U) a tough fight

Tejashwi Yadav had helped RJD emerge as the single largest party during the November 2020 Assembly polls

Bihar is set for a direct fight between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP and Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar agreeing to fight 16 Lok Sabha seats and letting BJP contest 17.

The state, which sends 40 members to the Lower House, saw an unexpected event in January when JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar formed an alliance with the BJP and its NDA partners. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 39 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP won all the 17 that it contested, the JDU) bagged 16, the LJP six.

BJP and RJD go all out

During his recent poll rally in Jamui, PM Modi had reiterated that NDA will secure all 40 seats in the state and over 400 nationwide.

Meanwhile, Yadav has been urging people not to fall for BJP's "propaganda" in the Lok Sabha polls.  Comparing PM Modi’s guarantee to Chinese goods, Yadav said the PM “never talks about real issues”.  “Modi Ji neither talks about jobs nor about students, youth, farmers or labourers. He does not talk about villages and poor people. Modi Ji does not talk about education, health, schools or hospitals. Then what is the point of crossing 400?" the RJD leader posted on the social media platform X.

While Nitish Kumar may still be relevant in the state, his politics have impacted the JD(U) image.  His flip-flops and their justifications raised questions among voters and parties alike.  The former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar made repeated jibes at the CM for his switch from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) to the NDA.  “Can PM Modi guarantee that Nitish Kumar won’t do another U-turn,” Yadav asked in the state Assembly.

In less than a month after JD(U) formed an alliance with NDA, the RJD organised a Jan Vishwas Yatra.  Tejashwi travelled across 32 out of the 40 districts of Bihar. He spoke about issues such as unemployment, poverty, inflation and “Nitish Kumar’s opportunism”. He also reminded the voters of  his work in 17 months of his tenure in the Mahagathbandhan government with the JD(U).

He said the new word mix for the RJD is not M-Y or Muslim-Yadav, but  BAAP (Bahujan-Agda-Aadhi Aabadi-Poor), covering not just the backwards but also the upper castes, women and poor.

With the INDIA bloc being riddled with too many contradictions, it is being said the addition of CPI-ML, CPM, and the CPI to the RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan may help  Tejashwi Yadav.

“There is no doubt that the NDA is not going to get 39/40. Tejashwi Yadav’s graph has gone up enormously. The young voters are flocking to his rallies, and he has provided the mahagathbandhan the much-needed adrenalin. By way of comparison, Nitish’s stock has come down, his own people are upset with him over his flip flops," RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari told Hindustan Times.

Tejashwi Yadav had helped RJD emerge as the single largest party during the November 2020 Assembly polls by promising jobs.

The NDA also faces a tough challenge in Chhapra, Siwan and Maharajganj Lok Sabha seats, where it suffered major losses in the 2020 Assembly polls. The polling for 40 constituencies in Bihar will be held in seven phases starting April 19.