Bihar Election 2020: From job creation to 'Aatma Nirbhar' Bihar -- five themes of poll campaign

Migration and job creation  

Migration of labourers and unemployment featured prominently in poll campaigns of both the ruling and opposition alliance. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, who slammed Nitish Kumar for being unable to create employment, promised 10 lakh jobs if voted to power. The BJP too promised 19 lakh jobs. Bihar sends largest labour forces to the rest of the country. At least 40 per cent of Bihar youth are unable to find any source of income, according to periodic labour force survey. At least thirty lakh migrant workers have registered as voters in Bihar’s 38 districts this election. Of these, nearly 19 lakh had returned home during the pandemic and stayed back, officials said.

The ‘Jungle Raj’ jibe and Bihar’s law and order

Law and order are discussed in Bihar in every election. The NDA led by Prime Minister Modi attacked Tejashwi Yadav and RJD invoking the ‘Jungle Raj’, a term used for the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule.   In his rallies, Nitish Kumar has been citing NCRB data showing how Bihar has improved under his regime and was now at number 23 among states in terms of crime numbers. A survey by Centre for the Studies of Developing Societies earlier this year said 34 percent of people in Bihar believe the police themselves violate the rules and regulations while 77 per cent hold agreed there was a nexus between the political leaders and police. Tejashwi and LJP chief Chirag Paswan attacked Nitish Kumar over firing after clashes in Munger, one of the 71 constituencies that went to polls in the first phase on October 28. An 18-year-old man was shot dead and many others injured in alleged police firing after clashes during the immersion of Goddess Durga ahead of polls.

The ‘Aatma Nirbhar’ or Self Reliant Bihar

The BJP’s Bihar election campaign was primarily themed on Bihari pride and making the state Atma Nirbhar (self-reliant). Party leaders highlighted that Bihar has always been a leader in civil services, judiciary and people of Bihar have outperformed others, hence the need to make Bihar become ‘self-reliant’. The BJP’s campaign song--“jan jan ki pukar, Atma Nirbhar Bihar (everyone wants to make Bihar self-reliant)” was also on the same theme. In his rallies, Prime Minister Modi appealed to voters to build a self-sufficient state and vote for the NDA government to make that possible.

Religion, Ram Temple, nationalism, et al

Right from the beginning to the end, the NDA campaign, including PM Modi’s public meetings, raised the construction of Ram Temple, the Galwan Valley clash and the scrapping of Article 370. In one of the addresses on his last day of the campaign, PM Modi accused Opposition of not wanting people to chant- 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', and Jai Sri Ram'. These barbs were aimed at painting the Opposition as those who back ‘anti-national’ and ‘anti-Hindu’ forces.

The pandemic shadow

The Bihar assembly election is the first full-fledged election being held in India under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic. All prominent NDA leaders, including PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, cited over 96 percent recoveries, highlighting how Centre and state government were successful in handling the pandemic in Bihar and elsewhere. Moneycontrol reported this week how the novel Coronavirus is surprisingly showing an impressive decline in Bihar even as political rallies and meetings drew huge crowds.  In contrast to the alarming predictions of a possible spurt in COVID-19 cases during election campaign, made months ago, the state on November 5 reported that it has just over 6,826 active cases, with only 10 per cent hospital beds occupied. The Opposition has however been accusing the state government of manipulating the COVID-19 numbers. Among the 11 pre-poll promises, BJP said it will administer free COVID-19 vaccine to all citizens if voted to power evoking sharp criticism from the Opposition. Many leaders including Deputy CM Sushil Modi contracted the virus.

On the last day of campaigning on November 5, BJP president JP Nadda declared in Bihar that PM  Modi had “saved the country” from the Coronavirus pandemic, and has done what US President Donald Trump  failed to do. Nadda's  statement came as Trump appeared to be the backfoot in the US presidential election race, with Democratic challenger Joe Biden on the cusp of a White House victory even as vote counting drags on in some key battleground states.

"The results of the US elections are being declared and the allegation against Donald Trump is that he could not handle COVID-19 properly. But Modiji saved the country and its 130 crore population by taking timely decisions". Nadda said in a rally in Darbhanga district.

Bihar Election 2020: Follow Moneycontrol’s full coverage here