How Bihar polls have become a slugfest over DNA, Mandal and beef
On August 18, 2015, at an official government event in Arrah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for Bihar. Within weeks, it faded away from the political discourse of even the BJP. To counter this, chief minister Nitish Kumar unveiled a Rs 2.70 lakh crore development plan for the next five years. Nitish said that while the prime minister's package is nothing but repackaging of old schemes, his vision comprises programmes which are doable. But as development disappeared from the BJP's election discourse, it also vanished from Nitish's narrative as electioneering got momentum. So far, development has been relegated to the second place and issues like DNA, Mandal - Part 2 and beef has dominated the political discourse.
On July 25, 2015, addressing a Parivartan Rally in Muzaffarpur, Modi had launched a scathing attack on Nitish. Referring to the way the chief minister had cancelled the dinner for the visiting BJP delegates during the party's national executive meeting in Patna in June 2010, Modi said that something was wrong in Nitish's DNA. He also asked what happened to those who used to work with him like George Fernandes, Sushil Modi and Jitan Ram Manjhi. All of them were ditched by Nitish.
This made Nitish furious. He wrote a scathing letter to Modi, urging him to withdraw his controversial DNA remark, saying the statement has insulted not only him, but also the people of the state. Nitish extrapolated this to Bihar's DNA and started playing the “Bihari Asmita” card. The one and only rally where Congress president Sonia Gandhi, RJD chief Lalu Yadav and Nitish were present was named the Swabhiman Rally. Nitish's speech was centered around the DNA theme. The JD(U) dispatched one lakh samples of nails and hairs of individuals to the prime minister's office (PMO) for DNA tests as a mark of protest.
This statement of the prime minister is still getting resonance in campaigning. Nitish is dubbing Modi and BJP president Amit Shah "Bahri" (outsiders) and asking people to vote for the "Bihari". In response, Amit Shah says that the next chief minister would be a "Bihari" not a "Bahri", but it would be a Bihari from the BJP.
On September 21, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gave an interview to Sangh's mouthpieces Organiser and Panchjanya. He called for a "social review" of the reservation policy. After massive uproar, the RSS clarified that Bhagwat did not speak about the existing quota system but said everybody should try to ensure that all weaker sections reap its benefits. The BJP has repteadly clarified that it is for reservation.
This has come as a godsend opportunity for Lalu. Though the RJD chief has invoked Mandal - Part 2 in the Swabhiman Rally, the RSS has given him an opportunity to convert the electoral fight into a backward-forward contest. Lalu and Nitish started saying that the BJP is keen to end reservation. This forced Modi to say that his government is committed to the reservation policy. This has failed to satisfy Nitish and Lalu. They asked the prime minister to refute Bhagwat's suggestion on reviewing job quotas. In speech after speech, Lalu and Nitish have been warning their listeners that if the BJP wins, it will scrap reservation.
On September 28, Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched to death in Dadri on the allegation of storing and consuming beef. It found resonance a thousand kilometres away, in the Bihar election battlefield. To counter extreme right-wingers' defence of lynching, Lalu said even Hindus and Indians living abroad ate beef. If Bhagwhat has given Lalu an opportunity to turn the election into a backward-forward contest, Lalu has provided the BJP a chance to play the Hindu-Muslim card.
The BJP's firebrand leader Giriraj Singh jumped into the debate and said Lalu should stop denigrating Hindus by making such remarks. He threatened to launch an agitation outside Lalu's house if he did not withdraw his remarks. Former deputy chief minister of Bihar and BJP leader Sushil Modi challenged Lalu to say that the election was a contest between beef eaters and those who did not eat it.
This forced Nitish to come into the picture and hit back by claiming that a desperate BJP was attempting to polarise the electorate. Realising he might have gone too far and stepped on the sensibilities of his core supporters, that is the Yadavs, who rear cattle and revere the cow, Lalu did a quick about-turn, saying his tongue seemed to have been possessed by the devil in a moment of weakness. To this, Sushil Modi said, "If Lalu Prasad is speaking the truth, he should drink cow urine at a public meeting."
As if attacks from other BJP leaders wasn't enough, Prime Minister Modi too took a dig at Lalu. He said that in Gujarat, yaduvanshis (Yadavs) have brought about the white revolution while rearing cows “but, here (in Bihar) we don’t know what he (Lalu Prasad) has eaten... he has disrespected yaduvanshis." He sought to project Lalu's beef remarks as an insult to the entire state. The prime minister said Lalu could not absolve himself of his beef remarks by claiming that it was the "shaitan" (devil) on his tongue which made him say it. Repeatedly referring to Lalu's remarks, Narendra Modi asked people, "Do we have place for such people in Bihar?" After the prime minister played up Lalu's reported comment of the "shaitan" influencing him which made him make the beef comment, the RJD chief challenged Modi to prove that he had made the devil remark.
No one can say with certainty if issues like DNA, Mandal - 2 and beef have been introduced in the campaigning for the Bihar Assembly elections intentionally or unintentionally. But it can be said with certainty that they have become defining issues of this elections.