THE BJP decision to go on the offensive in Bihar springs from a growing sense that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is at his weakest right now. Having been unceremoniously dumped by the JD(U),the party is chuckling in private that the man believed to be once nursing pan-Indian dreams is struggling against pan-Bihar challenges,be it the midday meal tragedy,Bodhgaya serial blasts,Nawada communal violence or Sasaram clash.
That is the reason the Bihar BJP became the partys first state unit to pass a resolution seeking that Narendra Modi,a man Nitish loves to hate,be made the BJP prime ministerial candidate.
What appears to have decided the issue for the state leaders is the good audience the BJP received in Nalanda,Nitishs home turf,last month while kicking off the 2014 poll campaign. The Nalanda audience raised slogans hailing Modi.
An announcement declaring Modi as PM candidate will also add momentum to the BJPs much-anticipated Hunkar Rally in Patna,planned for November,which is to be addressed by the Gujarat CM.
The BJP says it is not bogged down by the JD(U)s conspiracy theory,hinting at the party’s hand in the recent violence in Bihar,and wants to play to its strengths. The BJP,in fact,believes that the worst of what could happen to its vote share in Bihar with Modi’s unofficial projection is already over and it should be upfront about it now.
In the states caste-driven as well as lately progress-driven politics,the BJP is portraying Modi as both the real development man as well as the son of a tea vendor and EBC leader who should be the countrys next PM.
On the other hand,as the BJPs resolution underlined,Nitishs claims of law and order and governance lie exposed. Santosh is a special correspondent based in Patna santosh.singh@expressindia.com
