PM Modi pitch to JD(U) videos, NDA returns to Lalu plank, reignites ‘jungle raj’ ammo

Speaking at the event before the PM’s address, his NDA ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president, tried to remind the gathering of the period during the reign of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad. “I hope you remember what was the situation when we came to power in Bihar (in 2005). Nobody would venture out of the house after sunset,” Nitish said.

In recent weeks, the JD(U) camp has gone all out to hark back to the “jungle raj” allegation against the 15-year reign of Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi during 1990-2005. The alleged Lalu-Rabri “misrule” has marked the JD(U) leaders’ statements as well as the party’s social media campaigns as a motif.

Of the last 12 campaign videos that the JD(U) has posted on its YouTube channel in the past two months, six seek to evoke fears of the “jungle raj”.

The tone and tenor of the NDA’s initial campaign indicates that even after 20 years of the Nitish rule, the upcoming polls would still be about Lalu.

The reiteration of past accusations against the Lalu-Rabri regime has been seen as the NDA’s “admission of anti-incumbency” against the Nitish-led government, which prompted the JD(U) to project him as the “best option” in the face of the “available tainted alternative”.

In the JD(U)’s latest campaign video, posted on February 12, against the backdrop of mock scenes of killings and abductions, a voice-over says: “Do you know how did the term ‘jungle raj’ come up? It was used by the Patna High Court while hearing a petition on August 5, 1997. Bihar at that time was under the rule of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.”

An earlier JD(U) video, uploaded on February 8, focuses on the development works carried out by Nitish, starting with a line, “Bihar ko jungle raj se nikalkar susahshashan ki raah par lane wala neta… (Nitish pulled Bihar out of jungle raj on to the course of good governance),” with “jungle raj” highlighted in red.

On January 21, the party posted an August 2005 video of Nitish, then an MP, delivering a speech in Parliament, where he flagged the plight of the Bihar police claiming how it was unable to even fire its weapons. Bihar was then under the President’s rule.

On January 10, at their joint press conference in Bettiah, the JD(U) and the BJP released posters that contrasted the “jungle raj ka Champaran” line and pictures of Lalu and a woman screaming with the claim of “NDA ka matlab unnati aur vikas (NDA means progress and development)” featuring the images of Nitish and a glittering highway.

The JD(U)’s January 8 video describes how after Nitish took the reins of Bihar, the state took its “first steps from jungle raj to sushashan (good governance)”. Claiming that it started with upholding law and order, the video says that a strong and determined leadership is needed to maintain the independence of the criminal justice system.

The party’s January 5 video, titled “Bhule nahi hain Bihar ke log”, juxtaposes Bihar’s glorious history of Buddha and Mahavir with the “decay” allegedly seen during the Lalu-Rabri rule that “defamed” Bihar. It also highlighted the fodder scam involving Lalu, saying “(Lalu) jaanwaron ka chaara bhi kha gaye (Lalu did not spare even the cattle’s fodder)”. This line found an echo in PM Modi’s targeting of the RJD in his Bhagalpur speech.

The JD(U)’s December 30 video shows Nitish saying that his government has “zero tolerance” for crime. He also claims that before his tenure people could not even approach a police station with a complaint and that no witnesses could reach the courts in the state.

The RJD’s Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Manoj Jha said the NDA’s “jungle raj” pitch indicated their “anxiety” over the upcoming polls. “Is it for the first time they are speaking this language. I am hearing this for the past 15 years. It shows they don’t have any positive agenda. There is a video leak where BJP members are heard saying let’s attack Lalu and not Tejashwi. Because you cannot match up to the commitment Tejashwi is making. It shows they are jittery. Look who is talking about jungle raj, their double engine sarkar has not been able to do anything for Bihar,” he told The Indian Express.

Jha underlined the social change that Lalu regime brought about in Bihar.

“Had the subaltern awakening of the 1990s not materialised, the PM would not have reached the pinnacle in his own political party. This kind of messaging is not going to work. We have faced this in 2020 and tackled it,” he said.

JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, however, argued that the NDA’s pitch was only in response to the RJD questioning Nitish’s achievements. “In Bihar, this is a one-sided contest. We have unlimited achievements to show for the past 20 years, from basic facilities to jobs to empowerment. The picture of Bihar has changed. Add to this the announcements made by the Centre in the last two Budgets for the state. When we speak about jungle raj it is in response to the Opposition trying to negate our achievements. If they are going to lecture us on law and order, we have to remind them about their time. Our positive achievements are so many, and our alliance is so strong in terms of vote share that we are not dependent on the jungle raj trope. Lalu ji is discussed because he is the stained history of Bihar,” he said.