DC Edit | NDA’s Advantage As INDIA Bloc Gets Into Bihar Mess?

The picture is clearer now that the race to the Bihar Assembly has entered its final lap: While the ruling NDA has been successful in putting forward an image of cohesion to the masses having overcome inherent contradictions by working out an agenda based on common points of agreement, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan is fraying, its fault lines deepened by greed and ego battles that have obfuscated its very political goal.

The uneasy relationship among the main partners of the NDA, the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP, did have multiple gripes. Whether it was the choice of the chief ministerial candidate or the commitment to secular principles, the difference between them involved big questions. And yet the quest for power sublimated these and saw them coming together, smoothing over all wrinkles in their relationship.

For instance, the JD(U) leadership had expressed its reservations over conceding seats to the BJP in a way that meant it was no longer the leading player in the alliance. On the other hand, there were allegations of betrayal against it as well. However, the partners did not lose sight of the importance of the Bihar battle. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also fell in line in due course, helping the NDA project a unified picture.

Inside the Mahagathbandhan, meanwhile, is a different story. Shamefully for its supporters, it is openly displaying disarray and discord that have stopped it from announcing a seat sharing-formula for this all-important election. Worse, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a key ally of the INDIA bloc and the ruling party of Jharkhand, has announced its decision to leave the alliance and withdraw from the election, protesting against the allegedly raw deal it has been dealt. As it stands now, alliance leader RJD is contesting in 163 seats and the Congress in 61. The self-defeating positions the partners have taken will result in “friendly fights” in 12 constituencies. The RJD and the Congress will take on each other in six seats while the Congress and alliance partner CPI are locked in a fight in four constituencies. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the RJD will clash in two seats, too.

The blame for the mess in the Mahagathbandhan belongs to all but the share of the Congress would be more than all others. The party with a pathetic strike rate of 19 out of 70 seats in the 2020 election has refused to be realistic about its strength and possible electoral impact. The Congress had only itself to blame for the electoral defeat in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, too, where it chose to play Big Brother and slighted its partners that made a critical difference. And in this all-important state where the Opposition today has a brighter chance, it is still determined to play spoilsport. Instead of helping the RJD, the real player in Opposition politics in Bihar, the Congress is busy organising mega-shows for its national leadership in the state, not realising that it is not at all impressing the electorate. After all, vote chori is not an art that the Congress’ opponents have specialised in alone.

Well, politics is the art of the possible. So the two Bihar battlefronts are once again in a race to prove it afresh.