Patna: It seems Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has failed to read the writing on the walls. Already facing heavy anti-incumbency, he has landed in another trouble. Amid the first phase of polling in Bihar beginning from October 28, Nitish is now getting acquainted with continuous protest during his election rallies.
Recently, a youth pelted stones on the dais during an assembly rally when he was addressing the crowd in Gaya district. However, the stone did not hurt anyone and police later arrested the youth. The incident took place at Atri assembly constituency when CM was holding a public meeting at the ground of Jagdish Chandra High School.
A similar incident happened yesterday in Rafiganj of Aurangabad district when an elderly man started shouting slogans against Nitish alleging that CM had siphoned money from the MNREGA fund. Police caught him on the spot but later released. In another incident RJD's supporters shouting slogans in support of Lalu Prasad in the public meeting of Nitish in Tikari of Gaya district.
This is not the first time Nitish is facing protest in his own public meeting. In the past as well, such incidents have taken place. During the several Yatra's in the past be it Nischay Yatra, Vikas Yatra, Vikas Samiksha Yatra, Nitish had faced the wrath of the people. In fact, in 2018 Nitish' convoy was attacked when people pelted stones during his Samiksha Yatra in 2018 at Buxar.
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The political experts opined that the main reason for the protest against Nitish is the heavy anti-incumbency factor and his acceptance among people at a personal level. The experts also cited other reasons which have accumulated against Nitish.
“Apart from the anti-incumbency factor, the way Nitish Kumar handled the issue of returned migrants during the Corona can be termed as a major reason. The third reason is not providing equal pay for equal work to the teachers and the fourth one is BJP workers at the ground. The BJP workers at the ground were in favour of contesting elections alone instead of facing the anti-incumbency,” said the political expert.
There is a good logic behind BJP' worker demand as the party is already facing criticism that BJP does not have their own face and is always contesting in the leadership of Nitish. It is the workers at the ground who face most of the criticism, not the top leaders. The BJP workers wanted to come out from the clutches of Nitish and to a certain extent, BJP leadership has made the arrangement on this front.
BJP top leader Amit Shah has given the hint with this regard that even though BJP gains more seats than JDU, Nitish Kumar would be CM. It means that BJP is already assuming that the saffron party will get more seats compared to JDU. The statement can also be read in this way that BJP will emerge as the bigger party against JDU in the assembly poll.
Another political pundit stressed that people chose alibi to attack someone if there is an anti-incumbency factor. There could be several local reasons on the ground. For example, if a road is constructed, the man can claim that it has not passed from his house, if electricity is there, he can claim that it has not reached his house.
“There is strong resentment against Nitish and it has not built in one day. Nitish Kumar is comparing his 15 years of work with Lalu Prasad's 15 years. Let me tell you that people are not taking this talk seriously. Lalu has not been in the picture since 2005 and bigger drama took place in the last 15 years. The drama started in 2009 and ended in 2017. The political drama did not happen suddenly. It all started when an NDA meeting was there in Ludhiana in which Nitish and Narendra Modi were present. The photo in which Narendra Modi holding the hand of Nitish started the bitter relation between the two leaders, “said the expert.
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He further said, “The same image haunted him when an advertisement of Rs 5 crore appeared thanking Modi for donating Rs 5 crore for 2009 Bihar flood. Nitish was so upset and he not only returned the money but also cancelled the dinner party he had arranged for NDA leaders at his official residence 1, Aney Marg. Nitish had always seen Narendra Modi as a communal person and a man who believes in divisive politics. Nitish even went to snap his 17-year-old relation with BJP on the issue of same Modi,”
After getting humiliating defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha, Nitish resigned though it was not an assembly election. Made Jitan Ram Manji CM, then joined hands with Lalu against whom he was always spitting venom. Once again he snapped ties with RJD and joined hands with Narendra Modi. So these are political dramas that took place in the last 15 years which Nitish is not talking about.
“So, people of Bihar are not fools - if Nitish Kumar is talking about Lalu's 15 years, he should also talk about his own drama which he anchored between 2009 to 2017 and continuing till today. So these things are also there in the mind of people which has accumulated and taken the shape of protest and agitation. Such things also make people impulsive and different types of thoughts come into mind after remembering the tenure of Nitish as CM who takes the pride in shifting loyalties from one party to another, “said the expert.
Another reason for the protest is resentment among the youths facing unemployment in Bihar. Nitish claimed to be doing great work in the state but somewhere he has failed to create job opportunities forcing Bihari's to move to other states. CM cites the example of unavailability of funds to create jobs but experts suggest that there are several projects on which Nitish spent thousands of crores and that money could have been easily utilised for creating jobs to the youths.
One example was the Patna international museum on which Patna High Court had made the observation that public money should be spent transparently and with justification. In a response to a PIL, the court had asked the Bihar government to justify spending on the museum. Bihar government has paid Rs 22 crore as consultancy fee to a Canadian firm.
In days to come, there are chances of Nitish facing more protest and agitation during his own rallies when the election in Bihar will reach its pinnacle. It would also be interesting to see whether the protest actually damages Nitish or not when results would be declared on November 10, 2020.
