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Is Nitish Kumar now imitating Modi?

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Ashok Upadhyay
Ashok UpadhyayJul 30, 2015 | 14:13

Is Nitish Kumar now imitating Modi?

This is not just a story of two politicians jostling for votes, this is the story of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar turning foes, with the PM trying to wrest Bihar from Nitish while Nitish does a Modi to keep Bihar.

Let's rewind to 2003 when Nitish was a cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. Modi had won a decisive victory in his state despite the post-Godhra riots and praising Modi, Nitish said, "I hope that Narendra Modi will not be limited to Gujarat. The country needs his services."

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By 2004, with the NDA out of power Nitish went back to Bihar where in 2005 he emerged as the chief minister with a clean image. In the years that followed, Modi evolved his Gujarat model of development while Nitish worked away at his own model in Bihar. But Nitish possibly realised that Modi had ambitions to rule the roost. Modi’s constant posturing, projecting himself as the NDA’s potential prime ministerial candidate led to rivalry between the two, and in time, this turned into a bitter and open enmity.

In June 2010, Nitish, at the last moment, cancelled a banquet at his official residence for the delegates of the BJP national executive. It seemed he was upset over an advertisement that showed Modi and Nitish jointly campaigning for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Nitish returned the monetary aid extended by the Gujarat government for the flood victims of Bihar and then before the 2014 general election Nitish brought to an end his 17-year-long association with the NDA. It was over the issue of Modi being the prime ministerial candidate for the alliance.

With such deep hatred for Modi, one would imagine that Nitish would not remotely touch anything associated with the politician he hates. But is that the case? Or is he busy working on the Modi model to retain his power in Bihar? Is Nitish paying Modi the ultimate tribute by copying the Modi model of winning elections?

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Modi's Gujarati asmita = Nitish's Bihar's pride

Prime Minister Modi launched NDA's Bihar campaign when he addressed a parivartan rally” in Muzaffarpur. He launched a scathing attack on chief minister Nitish. He said that there is something wrong with Kumar's political DNA that led him to ditch friends who worked with him. Talking about JD(U)'s split from the NDA, he said, “I was hurt when he (Nitish) withdrew his support. But when he did the same thing to a mahadalit such as Jitan Ram Manjhi, then I figured that there is something wrong in his political DNA". He recounted other instances and said, “What happened to those who he worked with? To George Fernandes? To our (BJP's) Sushil Modi who once worked shoulder to shoulder with him?"

Reacting to Modi's "DNA" comment, Nitish said it was an “affront to the entire state and its people“. He very cleverly tried to convert Modi’s personal assault into an insult of entire Bihar. Apart from two successive tweets on this subject he also spoke on the subject.

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This trick seems to be straight out of Modi's book. In 2002, much to the exasperation of political pundits, who had predicted a close pitched battle, Modi swept the Assembly polls winning close to two-thirds of the seats in Gujarat. During his campaign he had appealed to the "pride" of five crore Gujaratis and that paid off. In public meetings and interviews, Modi, referring to the attacks on his government, said these were actually attacks on the "Gujarati pride". He would say "the five crore people of Gujarat have been humiliated, their pride hurt. The only way to restore this pride is to vote for me, restore me to power and teach these anti-Gujarat people a lesson." This was the trick used by Modi then and now Nitish seems to have borrowed a page out of Modi's book to evoke the pride of Bihar in his favour.

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Modi's key strategist is now with Nitish

Prashant Kishor, who played a pivotal role in getting BJP the huge mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, is now working for Nitish and for his party, the JD(U), for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Kishor, in 2011, left his job with the United Nations and joined a team of young professionals to campaign for Modi. For three years, Kishor along with about 60 other professionals worked overtime to change Modi’s image. He helped set up Citizens for Accountable Governance, initially to galvanise votes for Modi and later to address social issues. He is credited with being the architect of "chai per charcha" and 3D hologram campaign which contributed significantly to Modi's election victory.

In early June, large posters had come up in Patna, each featuring the same photo of Nitish and each carried one of six messages above the common tagline "phir ek baar Nitish Kumar". This was Kishor’s handiwork. Next he came up with the campaign “badh chala Bihar” and “har ghar dastak”. The latter is an ambitious door-to-door campaign to directly target three crore voters. This “har ghar dastak”, is reminiscent of catchphrases used in the 2014 Modi campaign - "har har modi, ghar ghar Modi”.

Like "chai pe charcha" for Modi in 2014, Kishore has designed “parcha pe charcha” for Nitish in 2015. Just as there was the “Bal Narendra” comic, there is now one called “Munna se Nitish”. It seems Nitish is heavily banking on Prashant Kishor to sail him through the 2015 Assembly election. And thanks to Kishor, for the first time in the Bihar elections, technology seems to be replacing muscle and money power.

Prohibition on liquor in Gujarat, so Bihar will also go dry

Prohibition on liquor in Gujarat has nothing to do with Modi. It was imposed when Gujarat was carved out from the state of Bombay in May 1960 to respect Mahatma Gandhi's views on alcohol. There are no bars or pubs in Gujarat. Unlike other states which raise revenues from the booze industry, Gujarat has done well for itself without it. But despite prohibition, mafia gangs and corrupt officials have ensured a steady supply of liquor at an increased rate.

On July 9, at an official function Nitish faced high-pitched complaints from women over the widespread addiction to country liquor in rural areas of Bihar. They demanded a total prohibition. In response, the chief minister said, “These women are correct. If I retain power, I will impose a ban on liquor in the state.”

Ironically, it was Nitish’s new excise policy of 2007 that had boosted liquor sales and consumption in Bihar. The emphasis at that time had been on revenue resource enhancement through adoption of new initiatives, including settlement of all types of retail excise shops through lottery. Since the Nitish government came to power in 2005, the revenue collection of the excise department has gone up ten-fold, from a paltry Rs 319 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 3,250 crore in 2014-15. Opponents of Nitish have always blamed him for promoting alcoholism in state. So, it seems that on the eve of Assembly elections, the chief minister has had a change of heart.

War in the cyber world

Nitish has also realised the importance of social media, the internet and mobile apps, particularly among the youth. He also knows that the BJP will leave no stone unturned to woo them.

So now the chief minister of Bihar can be found on Twitter. For this, Nitish relies heavily on his private secretary Chanchal Kumar, an IIT-Kanpur alumnus, to keep him connected to his online followers. Nitish has also appointed Pratyaya Amrit — his most trusted IAS officer — in charge of the department of information and public relations. A contract has been awarded to a Delhi-based organisation headed by former IPS officer Uday Sahay for brand building in Bihar, especially through social media and to keep in touch with non resident Biharis. Nitish has also outsourced the task of marketing the key initiatives of his government to maximise support.

Like Modi, Nitish too promotes his clean and honest image. While Modi tom-tommed his Gujarat model of developmental, Nitish talks about his own Bihar's developmental model. But will somethign which paid dividends for Modi also help Nitish? The answer to that will be known on the day the Bihar votes get counted.

Last updated: July 30, 2015 | 14:31
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