Patna: Caste has been central to Bihar politics, but it was heartening to see “development and governance” replacing it in the past decade especially after Nitish Kumar came to power in the state in November 2005. Be it the Janata Dal United (JD-U), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) headed by conservative politician Lalu Prasad, all focused on these two issues.

Kumar who headed the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in which BJP was a junior partner set the development agenda for Bihar and bounced back to power with an absolute majority after the last 2010 state elections while Prasad in the capacity of federal railway minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-I government earned global accolades for turning a “sick” Indian railways into a “cash cow”. Today, though, the issues of development and governance have simply gone for a toss and things are back to square one as the “lust for power” replaces the “hunger for development”.

BJP: The BJP which was pushed out of the erstwhile NDA government in June 2013 is trying hard to make “Jungle Raj” and “deteriorating law and order situation” the key election issues in the state although on the surface it focuses on the theme of development citing the prime minister’s announcement of Rs1.25 trillion (Dh71 billion) worth special development package for Bihar.

One of the main reasons why Kumar was given absolute mandate was his focus on restoring law and order situation in the state which came as a welcome relief to the masses who were the victims of the proverbial “Jungle Raj” during the 15 years of RJD government from 1990 to 2005. Now, the BJP is trying to recreate the same fears of “Jungle Raj” among the masses saying the state will be in another state of terror if Lalu-Nitish duo wins the polls.

The party has been routinely attacking Kumar for joining hands with Prasad whom it describes as the “protagonist” of “Jungle Raj” and has been rattling off crime statistics, such as murders, kidnapping, rapes and robberies, to prove how the law and order situation has nosedived post Lalu-Nitish tie-up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has led the charge terming RJD as “Rozana Jungle Raj Ka Dar” (everyday fear of jungle rule).

JD-U: The JD-U too claims development as its key poll agenda but its main issues in this election are “Bihar’s sawabhimaan” (self-respect), reservation for the deprived class and no to ‘outsiders’ in a subtle attack on Modi who hails from Gujarat. The JD-U raked up the issue of “Bihar swabhimaan” shortly after the Prime Minister, at an election rally in Bihar held in July, had questioned Kumar’s DNA. A peeved JD-U subsequently launched “Take back your words” campaigns, collected DNA samples from party workers by holding camps across the state and then sent over five million DNA samples to the Prime Minister’s Office in protest. It also held a massive “Bihar Sawabhimaan Rally” at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on August 30 to condemn Modi’s remarks.

Kumar who heads the JD-U is also constantly supporting reservation for the SC/ST and backwards castes while cautioning the masses against RSS which, he says, is trying to scrap reservation policy. He is also repeatedly reminding the masses about how Modi has failed to keep up his poll promise of crediting Rs1.5 million to the bank account of every citizen and says only a Bihari (a resident of Bihar) will develop Bihar, and not an “outsider” in oblique reference to Modi’s promise for development if the BJP comes to power. The issues of development and governance which brought Kumar back to power are hardly being mentioned this time in his election speeches.

RJD: Quite like the JD-U, its new alliance partner, the RJD too has completely deviated from the issue of development and is strongly batting for “reservation” for Dalits and backwards in government jobs and release of caste census in his election speeches. The RJD chief Prasad has also been making hate speeches and says this is a fight between “backwards and forwards” with eyes on huge backward votes.

He says he will continue raising his voice over the issue of reservation for poor even if this results in him being hanged till death in his last-ditch bid to prove a votary of poor’s rights. Backwards and dalits accounts for some 80 per cent of the state’s total population and Prasad’s repeated bids to raise this issue amply explains his poll strategy.