NDA vs Mahagathbandhan: The bugle of assembly elections in Bihar is over! Before the announcement of the Election Commission dates, the political mercury of Bihar is at its peak. Both the ruling NDA and the opposition grand alliance are engaged in finalizing their respective strategy. The most discussed topic in this election season is the ever increasing clan of the Grand Alliance. The last time the grand alliance of five parties has now been transformed into a strong alliance of nine parties. A well-planned ‘double engine’ strategy of Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav is working behind this.
NDA’s ‘Paw’ vs ‘Nahala’ of Grand Alliance
Where the number of parties in NDA is also five this time – BJP, JDU, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (democratic) and National Democratic Front. At the same time, the number of grand alliance has increased to eight. It already included RJD, Congress and three left parties. Now with the arrival of Mukesh Sahni’s Vikas Human Party (VIP), Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Pashupati Paras’ National Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), the clan of the grand alliance has increased further. It is reported that IP Gupta’s Indian Inquilab Party (IIP) may also join it soon, which will make the grand alliance of nine parties.
Lalu Yadav’s ‘return’
Lalu Yadav was in jail in the last election, and Tejashwi alone took the front. But this time, Lalu Yadav has also become active in the election season. He is starting to meet old RJD leaders and workers in his old style. Traveling with a vanity van, he is interacting with the workers and attacking Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. This shows that Lalu is handling the responsibility of uniting his ‘core voters’, so that the RJD vote bank does not weaken.
Strategy behind ‘Kunba Extension’
The question is that when there is no concrete formula for seat sharing already in the Grand Alliance, why are Tejashwi Yadav increasing the clan? The strategy behind this is hidden in the 2020 election results. In 2020, the Grand Alliance lost many seats by very little margin. Tejashwi believes that by bringing small parties together, they can win the seats with those ‘close contests’.
VIP (VIP): By bringing Mukesh Sahni’s party together, the grand alliance is eyeing 9.65 percent of the Nishad caste.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM): The 1.68 per cent of the Scheduled Tribe vote bank through JMM is an attempt to help.
Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP): By bringing Pashupati Paras together, there is a plan to add 1.7 percent of the votes of Paswan society.
In this way, stunning stunning small votes are engaged in strengthening the grand alliance by adding blocks, while Lalu Yadav is responsible for keeping his core voters united in favor of RJD. This ‘double engine’ strategy can only lead to the victory of the Grand Alliance.
