Voter Adhikar Yatra unnerves BJP in Bihar

Most shopkeepers and traders along the Bihar Voter Adhikar Yatra route looked on grimly while boisterous supporters of Tejashwi Yadav, the CPI(ML) and the Opposition INDIA bloc ran sweating in the sweltering heat to catch up with leaders on vehicles.

Their reaction demonstrated that they were not impressed. While a few of them did guardedly say the Opposition may do better in the upcoming Assembly election, most of them appeared to be NDA supporters and believed that crowds really mean nothing in the electoral battle ahead.

The general response, by all accounts however, has taken even the INDIA bloc by surprise. There are quibbles on whether the crowd had gathered spontaneously or was mobilised. The latter, if true, would speak well of the Opposition’s poll-preparedness and mobilisation capacity.

The carnival atmosphere, sea of flags, youngsters running full-tilt in the sweltering heat, RJD and even CPI(ML) supporters reportedly carrying Congress flags, and elephants, camels and horses adding to the colour and excitement have marked the yatra thus far. The consensus is that Bihar had seen nothing like it.

The excitement is infectious. So much so that an independent and respected journalist like Abhay Mohan Jha, a resident of Bettiah in Champaran and an alumnus of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, described the yatra as an ‘unprecedented success’ in a Facebook post. The BJP, on its part, has sought to dismiss the yatra as a ‘circus’. BJP leaders bravely told the media that even a monkey draws crowds to watch its antics.

Towards the end of the yatra though, even the BJP found it hard to ignore the spectacle even as the media, including regional media, took scant notice of the spectacular display.

The BJP first flagged the participation of Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy and Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, tagging both as 'anti-Bihari'. Reports that three dreaded terrorists had entered the state through Nepal and could target the yatra spoke of desperation in the official ranks. Bihar Police tried its best to create obstacles under the pretext of traffic snarls. When nothing seemed to deter the crowds, a police spokesman declared at a briefing that the terrorists had left Nepal for some other destination.

The BJP’s announcement that as many as 100 party leaders would fan out in the state to counter the message from the yatra has been a non-starter. Though BJP leaders have been vigorously defending the Election Commission in media interactions, countering the narrative of 'vote chori' and accusing the INDIA bloc of batting for infiltrators and bogus voters, the narrative is yet to gather steam.

This has caused the NDA to eventually fall back on the alleged abuse of the prime minister’s mother during the yatra in Darbhanga, to protest which the BJP unleashed a grand total of four people to show black flags to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as his convoy passed them.

Gandhi actually spoke to one of the protesters, patiently explained that the alleged abuse was not uttered in his presence or in the presence of other leaders, that he had no idea about the incident and had never abused the PM or anyone for that matter. He offered the protestor water and toffees before continuing on his way to Patna from Arrah.

Despite the police claim of having arrested a young Muslim man for the alleged abuse directed at the prime minister, the yatra has been remarkably free of unpleasantness.

Yet, Gandhi’s contempt for the prime minister came under criticism by BJP leaders, who accused the LoP of undignified language, triggering endless debates on TV channels on the need for more civilised language in political discourse. Gandhi had referred to US President Donald Trump’s claim that he had called PM Modi and demanded that the ‘war with Pakistan’ be stopped within 24 hours and, Trump claimed, it was actually halted within five hours.

Describing the exchange in Hindi, Gandhi had used the informal 'tu' to emphasise the presumably dismissive manner in which Trump spoke to our PM.

Amusingly, even the moribund State Women’s Commission woke up from its stupor and issued notices to Gandhi and Tejashwi, demanding a quick response. The same commission had not been moved even by the gang rape of a Dalit woman in an ambulance after she was offered a lift, among other similar recent incidents in Bihar.

The yatra took the sporadic black flag protests and the brazen attack on Patna's Sadaquat Ashram, headquarters of the Congress since pre-independence days, in its stride. Several political activists believed that the BJP’s obsession with Gandhi was unwittingly giving the Congress a much-needed ballast before the election.

By according such importance to him, the BJP was making things easy for Gandhi, Gaya-based activist Braj Nandan Pathak said. Indeed, the party's obsession with Gandhi reflects the yatra’s impact, the activist added. Even the denial of permission to hold a rally at Patna's famed Gandhi Maidan on 1 September to mark the yatra's culmination was working in favour of the INDIA bloc, opposition activists claimed.