 "Ghar wapsi of vikas purush?")
Nargis, a Janata Dal (United), or JD (U), worker from Baisi in Bihar's Purnea district, proudly lists the achievements of the Nitish Kumar government in the past 10 years, while sitting in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) office. Fellow workers of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), irrespective of the party they belong to, join in and give their own take on how this alliance is poised to take the state forward.
The situation at the ground level is no different in other parts of the state. Workers and supporters of all the three constituents of the Mahagathbandhan - JD (U), RJD and Congress - have seemingly shed their differences to work as a unified lot.
Despite initial scepticism voiced by scores of observers, Yadavs, one of the most influential castes both politically and numerically, have begun to take pride in the leadership of Nitish Kumar. During our brief stopover at Bidupur, a small town in Raghopur assembly constituency, Babloo Singh, a Yadav, talked endlessly about how Nitish Kumar has been the only vikas purush (man of development) he has known all his life. "In 40 years of my life, I haven't seen any leader turning around things the way Nitish has done. He deserves another chance." His friend Vikas Kumar, an LIC agent at Hajipur, nodded in agreement.
Just a few kilometres away in Daudnagar village, a group of Yadavs explained how Nitish Kumar's alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD was a natural ghar wapsi (home coming). "Way back in the 1930s, Triveni Sangh was formed to bring Yadavs and Kurmis together. It only shows Yadavs and Kurmis are natural allies. So Nitish being part of Mahagathbandhan now is a ghar wapsi," said Arvind Kumar Sinha, a resident of the village. He was quite open about the fact he is a Yadav and his family was the only one in the village that had this surname.
In rallies or in election offices of Mahagathbandhan, this reporter saw a similar level of enthusiasm among workers of different constituents of the alliance. In rallies after rallies, "Lalu zindabad" is almost followed by "Nitish Kumar zindabad". Organisers of Lalu Prasad's rallies ensure leaders of Nitish Kumar's party get to address the crowd. Even the Swabhiman Rath, a customised vehicle carrying an LCD screen, shows a 41-minute clip of speeches by Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. Two raths have been assigned for each of the 243 constituencies of the state. Each rath is expected to cover at least 10 destinations in a day.
RJD spokesperson Naval Kishor told this reporter "The process of launching an integrated campaign was given due importance by the top leadership and what you see on the ground is the result of that." Kishor's claim is not way off the mark. It is not uncommon to see Lalu Prasad being greeted with "Nitish zindabad" or Nitish's rally venue prominently displaying posters of Lalu Prasad and Sonia Gandhi.
Lalu Prasad's sons, too, might have contributed to the integration as they seem to have adopted Nitish Kumar's campaigning style by focusing more on developmental issues. Scores of RJD workers and the people in Raghopur, which is where Lalu's younger son Tejaswi is contesting from, told this reporter that Lalu's younger son is focused on issues related to health, education, drinking water and investment.
"People are asked to list out local concerns and Tejaswi reviews them every day. He relied more on door-to-door campaign to get a first-hand experience of what is to be done in the area," an RJD worker told this reporter. Another worker added that before the campaigning began, Tejaswi got the constituency surveyed by an organisation to get a handle on what to be done. "He has promised to make Raghopur a tourist centre, set up a women's college here and work on the area's approach road to other centres of the state," said Brahmdev Singh of Majlispur village.
What is going to be the impact of an integrated Mahagathbandhan campaign? Does this mean addition of individual vote shares of all the three constituents? Observers say it will depend on how some of the unknown variables play out. One of them is which way migrants and aspirational voters would go. "We are impressed with what Nitish has done to the state. But we want more. We want jobs so that we don't have to migrate to other places. We have tried others. What is the harm in trying a new one this time?" asked a rickshaw puller in Purnea town. He is a small farmer who goes out to Jammu every year to earn some more for his family.
Another variable is which way women are going to vote. They are presumed to have voted for Nitish Kumar-led alliance in the last assembly elections. Some of the women this reporter spoke to had words of praise for Nitish Kumar but expressed scepticism at his association with Lalu Prasad. "The past 10 years have been really good for women of Bihar what with decisions like reserving seats in panchayats to appointing women teachers in schools. But we are not so sure about what will happen next," said 30-year-old Vinita.
Nitish Kumar's JD(U), though, had launched a separate outreach programme for women. Members of the party's women's cell were asked to visit women in person and get their feedback. Nargis claims she collected phone numbers of some 900 women from her area and put them in touch with party headquarters. "Women regularly get messages about the issues and campaign status directly and I am confident that Mahagathbandhan will get most of women votes," said Nargis.
