Bihar remains very much in discussion these days because of the upcoming Assembly Election. The politics of Bihar has once again come under the shadow of triangular political power and caste polarization. The critical contest in the election is between three parties Janata Dal Union (JDU) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Lokjan Shakti Party (LJP) of Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Congress and BJP have their political interests through UPA and NDA alliance, respectively.
Nitish is in power, Chirag Paswan is leading the LJP, and Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav leads the election with father in jail. But to maintain the supremacy in the party, Tejashwi Yadav has to follow former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. He has to tackle his father's tarnished image outside the party to regain RJD's lost political ground.
Following Akhilesh Yadav's footsteps
The days of Lalu's domination in Bihar politics are coming to an end as the party's new heir and Lalu's younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is trying to break out of his father's political shadow. This is in the same way that Akhilesh Yadav had contested the last assembly election in Uttar Pradesh by keeping his father Mulayam Singh Yadav marginalized, but the whole nation saw the result. Now, Tejashwi is also seen to shore up his father, Lalu, to create his own identity in Bihar politics.
Father Lalu Yadav's image not seen in election campaign posters
Tejashwi has revamped his election campaign in the Assembly Elections 2020 under a new strategy. This time the picture of Lalu-Rabri is missing in the posters of the party in elections. Because of Lalu's presence in the posters of some past projects of RJD, the party was overshadowed. Because with Lalu, who was serving a sentence in the fodder scam, JDU had played a political card by telling Tejashwi that he was involved in the scam. Simultaneously, in the general election of 2019, the party did not get even one seat due to Lalu's poster. This is the reason that Tejashwi is now blazing ahead in politics.
More attention on younger voters
Tejashwi has decided to take charge of the assembly elections 2020 himself. The party's biggest objective behind this is to woo young voters (ages 18-30). Twenty-four percent of the young voters in the state are born after 1990. These 24 percent of the young voters are not even aware of Lalu's Jungle Raj in Bihar. Simultaneously, two months ago, Tejashwi also apologized for the party's 'Jungle Raj' image from 1990 to 2005 in Bihar.
Preparations to encircle Nitish on these issues
Tejashwi has included essential issues like unemployment and migrant laborers in the party agenda to defeat Nitish Kumar. This means that Tejaswi wants to establish himself as a development-oriented leader in Bihar. This is why he has raised slogans like 'Nayi Soch Naya Bihar' and 'Abki Bar Yuva Sarkar' in the 'Nayi Asha for Bihar' project.
Full attention is given to caste equations
A new strategy has also been worked out for ticket distribution at the party. For this, upper-caste leaders have been given preference over RJD's core vote bank, keeping 13 percent Yadav and 17 percent Muslims (M-Y Factor) in mind. At the same time, the party has also worked to focus on those unhappy with the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The party has also taken full care of caste equations while emphasizing backward castes, Dalits, and backward castes.
Elections will decide the future of Tejashwi
The upcoming elections are being seen as an opportunity for Tejashwi Yadav. If he manages to win a sufficient number of seats in the election, he can carry forward his father's political legacy. If he fails to perform better, then his political future will be clouded.
