)
With the Janata Dal (United) hinting at snapping ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the latter seems to have decided to go on the offensive. The BJP, which earlier showered praises on Nitish Kumar for "good governance", is now pointing out loopholes in his development story. BJP Vice-President C P Thakur tells Satyavrat Mishra that the party's strategy is to focus on its traditional votebank.
How did things come to such a pass? Did the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) misread the political fallout of making Narendra Modi its election campaign committee chief?
It did not happen all of a sudden. Modi is our most popular leader. Not only the party cadre, but also the people of the nation believe that he can put India back on the path of becoming a superpower. Most of our allies share this viewpoint, too. The demand for making him our prime ministerial candidate has been doing rounds for quite some time now. Therefore, it was only logical for us to make him our election campaign committee chief. We have already made it clear that we will not rethink our decision.
Our leaders, however, thought Nitishji might change... We might have miscalculated his response. We never thought he would be this rigid on the matter. At the same time, even before the recent National Executive meet in Goa, it was clear that Modi will lead the BJP's election campaign committee. Kumar should not have been so static... It is our right to select the prime ministerial candidate.
So, what will be the BJP's strategy in Bihar now?
We are working on a two-pronged strategy. The first aspect of the strategy belongs to the work that we need to do before the elections take place, and the second part is focussed on after elections. Ahead of the elections, we need to work very hard on the ground. We need to connect with the masses at the ground level. We need to consolidate our position in the state. Also, we aim to expand in those areas where we have not been strong in the past.
At the same time, we are open to making new friends. Several leaders of other parties are in contact with us. We always have space for new friends. We will scout for them, but after we have finished the required work at the ground level. The BJP has a lot of work to do before we face the general elections next year.
Does that mean the BJP will now focus more on its traditional voters - upper-caste and urbane ones?
Yes, most certainly. This will be our priority. They have been with us since the very beginning. We cannot just look away from them. In the Maharajganj by-polls, we saw how essential the support of our traditional voters was. We will go to them and try to listen to their problems. Thanks to their support, we got 91 seats in the 2010 Assembly elections.
BJP leaders are saying people of Bihar had given mandates to both the BJP and the Janata Dal (United), JD (U) for a better government. Does this mean Kumar should now ask for a fresh mandate?
There are two aspects to this. First is meeting the number in the state Assembly, which, I think, Kumar will be able to. But that does not mean he is morally equipped to run the government, which brings me to the second aspect. He solicited votes in the name of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Therefore, according to me, he must ask for a new mandate now, since he is preparing to break the alliance. It will be the right thing to do.
What are the issues the BJP plans to focus on?
We want to raise issues that concern people. We want to focus on the development shortfalls, and poverty alleviation. For example, look at what happened in Jamui last week - a train was attacked by Left-wing extremists. People in that district are among the most deprived lots of the state. They have no work and no food. The so-called development has still not reached them.
In terms of population, Bihar is right behind Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest population in the nation. While Uttar Pradesh has six central universities, Bihar is struggling to have even one and that, too, is mired in controversy over its proposed location. At least three more central universities must be set up in the state to keep up with the population.
I had said at a meeting of the Muslim minorities wing of the BJP that the party neither intended to mislead Muslims by providing skull caps for them in the party-ruled states nor wanted to advertise their photographs with the minority people in the newspapers... all the BJP wants is to carry out development and welfare works for the minorities and win their hearts in the process.
Apart from this, corruption is one of the biggest problems in the state right now. There is rampant corruption at the lower levels of the bureaucracy, and people are not at all happy with this. I have been raising this issue for quite some time now. We plan to raise these issues collectively now. We want to question the rising clout of bureaucrats on the state of affairs. We will also urge our central leadership to declare Modi as our prime ministerial candidate. He is a good administrator, and connects with the youth like nobody else. It will help us garner more votes.
But does that not seem ironical given the BJP, for the last seven years, has been praising Kumar's government for "good governance"?
Honesty has always been our policy. You have to tell the truth. We had never said Bihar got rid of all of its problems. We asked votes, so that we make Bihar a better place. And so, we won 91 seats in the 2010 Assembly elections. There has been tremendous progress in the roads and health sector. We will stick to our policy.
Will the BJP-JD (U) break-up not divide the NDA votes, and also help arch-rivals, such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)?
No, it will not. People still remember the dark days of the RJD government. They are still afraid of the Lalu Yadav-Rabri rule. I can say this because I meet people. Hundreds of patients come to see me everyday. The chances are still not very favourable for the RJD.
And what do people tell you about the chances of the BJP in 2014?
The BJP will do better... but we would have to work very hard to achieve it. We will go to people, connect with them and try to win their trust. This was our strategy in 2010, and our strike rate was far better than the JD (U). So, we will continue to follow the same.
