Hostile YouTuber now in the same boat, BJP hopes to ride out Champaran choppy waters

Raxaul falls in the Paschim Champaran Lok Sabha constituency, which goes to polls on May 25 and will test the popularity of three-time MP and former Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal, who appears to be facing anti-incumbency for having become “inaccessible” over the years.

In the adjacent Purvi Champaran constituency, Radha Mohan Singh, a former Union agriculture minister and the sitting MP since 2009, is also facing anti-incumbency and invokes Narendra Modi to tell voters they are voting for the Prime Minister and not really him.

To revive their fortunes, both have found a common ally: YouTuber Manish Kashyap, who recently joined the BJP. Jailed last year for allegedly making fake videos about Bihari migrants coming under attack in Tamil Nadu, Kashyap was till mid-April campaigning as an Independent in Paschim Champaran, telling voters that all established leaders were corrupt.

His hard-hitting, over-the-top videos, raising issues of unemployment, lack of development, misgovernance and corruption in Bihar, appear to have plenty of takers among the young not just in Champaran but also many adjoining districts in Bihar – and now, also the BJP.

“Instead of Jaiswal, the BJP should have given a ticket to Kashyap. He would have won by a record margin… In fact, by getting Kashyap on its side, the BJP has saved its seats in Champaran,” believes Akhilesh Patel, a Kurmi tea stall owner in Ramgarhwa.

That Kashyap was till recently berating the politicians of the very same party he has now joined doesn’t seem to have hit his popularity. Alleging rampant bribery in the construction of toilets under a Central scheme, Kashyap, for example, said, “These politicians are now charging you even for defecating. Do you want such a government? Abki baar, gareeb ki sarkaar. Ab ki baar, yuva ki sarkar. Ab ki baar badlav ki sarkar (This time, a government for the poor, youth, and for change).”

Seeking communal harmony and claiming no impact of the Ram Temple, Kashyap said: “If Bihar is developed, then those wearing the ‘green scarf’ and the ‘Shri Ram scarf’ will have developed together.”

Since joining the BJP, Kashyap’s tune has changed. In videos seeking votes for Jaiswal and Singh, he says people may have some concerns regarding sitting MPs, but they must vote for Modi to strengthen the nation and Hindu religion.

Kashyap says that if he continued raising people’s issues only as a Youtuber, he would have had to keep going to jail. “So, I decided to take on the system by entering it. I joined the BJP as the party helped me a lot when I was in jail,” he told The Indian Express.

On his journey from an anti-establishment campaigner to now seeking votes for the establishment, Kashyap says, “There is all-pervasive grassroots corruption in Bihar. It sometimes does not reach the ears of the government. I do not know whether I will fit in or not, but I will not stop raising these issues. However, in the BJP there is freedom to speak within the party forum. I will again hit the streets on issues concerning the public if the need arises.”

On his communal harmony pitch in the past, he says, “BJP is not communal. We are talking only on the developmental work carried out by the Modi government. But when the Opposition raises questions on Ram Temple… Akhilesh Yadav says a hospital should have been built… Why didn’t he do it when he was the CM? It is the Opposition which is communal.”

The BJP’s hope is that the message will be a bonus to the lasting appeal of Modi, the belief among many that India can “continue reaching new heights under him”, and the popularity of the Centre’s free ration and housing schemes.