The sweeping mandate delivered by the people of Bihar to the incumbent NDA and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not expected by even the most optimistic of followers. It indicates how stark the choice was between good governance and divisive politics. And the level of maturity displayed by the public in seeing through the outdated politics of the Mahagathbandhan. Bihar may not have advanced very much on the development front, but the political understanding of the people has clearly kept pace with the rest of India. In practical terms, also, there is no longer confusion about what policies people want. What is being done seems to be making an impact at the grassroots, particularly with women, who were rightly judged as the decisive factor.
The opposition parties have already begun to blame the EC and its SIR for the loss, but they are fooling no one but themselves. It is possible that the clean-up of the electoral lists led to reduction of fake voters and a mandate more reflective of the people’s will. Who would not want that? The loss has more to do with the disconnect between the parties’ ‘youth’ leaders and the general public. The particularly miserable performance of the Congress shows how badly the campaign was planned and the desperate shortage of local leadership. It has suffered greatly by allying with the RJD over the years basically to offer a united front against the BJP, having lost support in entire regions as a result. Also, the aspirational youth of the state were obviously not pleased by being identified as just labourers during Rahul’s forays into their ‘disadvantaged’ lives. The AIMIM under Asaduddin Owaisi performed better, vote percentage wise, by contesting on its own.
Unless this approach changes soon, the Congress is going to perform badly in upcoming contests. It should focus less on its anti-Modi obsession and get down to real grassroots politics by having its cadres address people’s genuine problems. Allying with the local regional parties can work occasionally in national elections, but not at the state level. All that happens is political space is lost to others, as people cease to consider Congress a serious contender for power.
The challenge in the future for the national parties will now be in the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal contests. The BJP has its policy clearly charted out on the basis of Hindutva and Nationalism. The TMC and DMK are focused on local identity based on race and language. What does the Congress have on offer?
