New Delhi: As Bihar votes for the second phase of polls Tuesday, it is the youth power from the opposition Grand Alliance which has taken on the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Leading from the front is RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav who has managed to address 19 rallies a day in the polls, next is Kanahiya Kumar who is holdng rallies and puling crowds for his party CPI which is in the RJD-led alliance. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also addressed four rallies in both the phases.
But analysts say that the jobs promise by Tejashwi is resonating with the crowds and he has singlehandedly managed to lead the opposition in the absence of his father Lalu Prasad Yadav. In his campaign Tejashwi has removed his father and mother from posters and now the BJP is asking for the reason behind it.
Yadav in his compaign says, “Kamai, Davai, Padhai, Sichai, Sunavai aur Karvai – yahi hamare mudde hain(income, medical treatment, education, irrigation are our issues).
CPI-ML leader Dipankar said, “A rattled BJP is desperately trying to spread lies and hate.” But feedback from the first phase of polling signals a decisive edge for the RJD-Left-Congress alliance in Bihar.
The Congress is pitching its leaders from the state and has been giving a call of pre-recorded messages of the state leaders including Tariq Anwar, who said, “the claim of development is false and if people had got employment they would not have migrated as the state has highest migrants.”
Even Rahul Gandhi in his campaign talked about migrants problem and farmers’ issues in his public meetings. RJD is harping on the issue of employment even as the critics says that its young leader has built the narrative about the jobs promises and is not responding to the issues raised by the Prime Minister such as Ram Mandir and abrogation of Article 370.
Voting in 94 of the total 243 Assembly seats in Bihar will be held on November 3 during the second phase in which over 2.85 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,463 candidates in the fray.
Prominent contestants in the fray include Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav who is recontesting the Raghopur seat and his brother Tej Pratap in Hassanpur seat in Samastipur district.
Other prominent faces in the fray in the second phase are RJD leaders Alok Kumar Mehta from Ujiyarpur and Shailesh Kumar from Bihpur, former parliamentarian Anand Mohan’s son Chetan Anand from Sheohar, former parliamentarian Rama Singh’s wife Beena Singh from Mahnar, and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv from Bankipur.