'Shah' of BJP politics missing from Bihar, but appears in West Bengal

As the heat of Bihar campaigning slowly dies down, Amit Shah is busy in preparing the ground for the assembly elections in West Bengal in 2021. The BJP’s Chanakya is reaching out to all sections of society in the Bengal trying to make inroads in Mamata Banerjee's turf. Shah didn't go to Bihar to campaign for the NDA candidates in the 2020 assembly polls but is trying hard to expand BJP's political reach in Bengal.

Patna: The grand battle for the throne in Bihar politics comes to an end along with the flurry of claims and counterclaims. The third phase of polling is scheduled on November 7 for which the campaigning came to an end on Thursday. Politics is not a simple game. It takes care of its own losses and benefits in a very calculated manner, which also indicates who and how is going to benefit from all these calculations. When we talk about Bihar politics, we are promptly reminded of how former BJP president and current Home Minister Amit Shah was active in 2015 Assembly polls. He was then portrayed as BJP’s Chanakya, but this time he did not even come to campaign for the NDA candidates in the 2020 assembly polls.

Amit Shah is busy in preparing the ground for the assembly elections in West Bengal in 2021. He is reaching out to all sections of society. One of the best examples of his reach out programme is his decision to have a meal at the house of Dalit family in Bankura. He is also accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of not ensuring the development of either West Bengal or the people of the State. In fact, the politics of West Bengal has proved a hard nut to crack. In south India, the BJP has been able to expand its political tentacles but has not been able to make an inroad into the citadel of Mamata Banerjee, which destroyed the political fort of Left parties in West Bengal. It remains to be seen how the BJP makes its presence felt in the State’s assembly elections.

NITISH HAD RESERVATION IN SHARING STAGE WITH SHAH

The absence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Bihar politics has raised many issues and questions as well. In fact, Amit Shah always used to give direction to every political move of the BJP, when the party went solo in the 2015 assembly polls after Nitish Kumar’s JDU severed its ties with the saffron outfit. But this time, he is completely missing from action in Bihar. There is none to say all this, but there is also an element of truth in the political argument that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not want Amit Shah to come for campaigning in Bihar. Actually, the image of Amit Shah annoys Nitish the most. He did not want to allow him to reach out to the voters in the election. The biggest hallmark of Nitish-Shah duel was reflected in the fact that Kumar shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but kept avoiding sharing the stage with Amit Shah.

SCRIPTING A NEW SOCIAL ENGINEERING IN BIHAR

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave a new identity to the politics of Mahadalits in Bihar. On January 24, 2015, Amit Shah, who visited Bihar to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, had said that every person of Bihar is honourable and is revered by us. The matter was clear. The BJP did not get any major benefit from the work done by Amit Shah in Bihar in 2015 by garnering the votes of Dalits in the name of the backward caste Prime Minister. Nitish did not want that the issue on which Amit Shah’s strategy failed should be raked up again in Bihar. Therefore, Amit Shah remained out of the ambit of Bihar assembly elections. It is a different matter that if someone did the most work to convince Chirag Paswan, then it was always Amit Shah. At least three times Amit Shah went to Chirag Paswan’s house. In order to ensure that the LJP remains part of the NDA in Bihar, Shah had a meeting in this regard, but his efforts did not bear any meaningful fruits. It is also discussed in the political circles and even many JDU leaders have also claimed that what is being said by Chirag Paswan has the tacit support of Amit Shah. It is being said that Paswan draws strength from Amit Shah.

‘CHANAKYA OF POLITICS’

The fight with Tejashwi Yadav over the issue of employment; Chirag Paswan’s claim that it is impossible for Nitish Kumar to be next chief minister of Bihar and now Kumar himself saying that this is his last election has raised many questions. In fact, Amit Shah is such a Chanakya of closed-room politics whose strategy, when it falls on the ground, leads to changes in politics. The issues are not in discussion in Bihar but the politics have certainly intensified over the fact that why Amit Shah did not come to Bihar.

POLITICS OF HAVING FOOD IN DALIT’S HOUSE

The BJP has been doing the politics of Dalit food for the last few years. It has become a common practice for many of its big leaders to dine at the house of Dalits. But in Bihar, the politics over the banquet, which Nitish Kumar scripted, did not go down well with the BJP, which is now returning the same to the JDU but in instalments in 2020. The public has also started a discussion about the fact that Nitish Kumar did not accept the public opinion till 2015 and did not keep the alliance he had inked in 2015 till 2020. In such a situation, if the BJP plays any political bet, then it will not be a very different politics. Chirag is behaving in the manner in which his political attitude is being seen protected under the fortification of Amit Shah. However, one thing is clear that the voice of dissent against Nitish Kumar in Bihar and within the NDA is getting louder though covertly.

SHAH, POLITICS, WEST BENGAL

Union Minister Amit Shah is preparing the strategy for West Bengal assembly elections, which are going to be held next year. Final touches are being given to all preparations to win the battle of Bengal. The only similarity in the politics of Bengal and Bihar is that Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, and Lalu Prasad Yadav have also appeared together on one stage. Mamata Banerjee even campaigned in support of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party. She even shared the stage with former Union Minister and RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who died recently. Even though the Trinamool Congress may not have benefited them much, its presence in the political battle in one way or the other is discussed in political circles. The partition of Bengal and Bihar had taken place long ago, but the political engagement between the two states and their leaders has been continuous. Amit Shah is doing politics in Bengal. It will not have any direct effect on Bihar, but politics is also not a straightforward game. Amit Shah has been directly out of the current phase of Bihar politics. It remains to be seen how Nitish Kumar seals victory without Shah in Bihar’s electoral battle of 2020.