Beef Row Spices up Bihar Poll Pot, BJP Takes on Lalu Prasad

“If there is “jungle raj” in Bihar it is “maha jungle raj” in these BJP ruled states having much higher crime figure than Bihar“, Kumar said.

He further said in states other than Bihar, one usually hears the phrase “caste the vote” but “vote for caste” seems to have worked in politics of Bihar. He was referring to PM Narendra Modi’s statement at Banka meeting on October 2.Nitish challenged the PM to stop central package as Modi indicated at Banka in case the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan won the state election. Bihar’s Muslims, about 17 per cent, are as unlikely to vote BJP as the Ganga is to reverse course and head up the Himalayas.

Sources said a joint rally of all three party leaders could take place in the fourth and fifth phase of the polls, possibly in Seemanchal.

The RJD leader denied charges that a victory for the JD-U and RJD would mean a return of “jungle raj” in Bihar. It has been aggressive enough to not repeat its mistakes of the 1990s, when it bent over backwards to accommodate Nitish Kumar, George Fernandes, RK Hegde and JH Patel, delaying the BJP’s ascent. Undoubtedly, the economic development has emerged as the most important issue in the coming Bihar election. Heading into the election, the BJP is touting Bihar’s progress during the eight years it was part of the ruling alliance while claiming that those gains were squandered when Kumar chose to dissolve the BJP-JD(U) coalition in 2013, placing politics above his state’s own interests.

In an interview to rediff.com in 1997, he questioned Lalu’s status as the indisputable mass leader of Bihar: “Mass leader indeed!”

On the other hand, following a national debacle, Lalu left Janata Dal and formed RJ(D). Yadav’s became the most influential caste bagging all major money-making jobs. The BJP is so intent to score a heist on the backward vote bank, it has run against its grain to declare that should it win, it will pick a backward as chief minister. Dr Ravindra Yadav is the BJP candidate for the seat in Jamui district.

The grand alliance of Nitish-Lalu-Sonia has already exposed the internal problems when Lalu and Nitish were not present at campaigns of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.