The clouds of uncertainty hovering over the upcoming Bihar assembly elections have not dispersed yet, with the Election Commission still mulling ways to hold it on time in the midst of a global pande mic, but rival parties have already girded up their loins for a bitter battle ahead.
Even though there is no official word as yet on whether the voters in Bihar— the first state to go to polls in the post-coronavirus scenario—will be able to elect a new government as per schedule in October-November this year, there appears to be no ambiguity about what would be the main poll plank this time around: it will be 15 years of Nitish Kumar versus 15 years of Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will complete 15 years in power in November and aim for his fourth consecutive victory in the polls since the NDA ended the 15-year reign of the RJD government under his leadership in 2005. From 1990 to 2005, Lalu and his wife, Rabri Devi, had shared the chief ministership, before Nitish scripted three poll victories in a row in the next decade-and-a-half. For a few months, of course, Nitish had handed over the chief minister’s chair to his one-time protégé Jitan Ram Manjhi after the crushing defeat of JD(U) in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and also shared power for some time with the RJD after the 2015 assembly elections. But now, the battle lines appear to have been clearly drawn between the archrivals who look all set to make claims and counterclaims over their respective 15-year tenures to vie for the voters’ attention in the run-up to the polls.
This story is from the June 29, 2020 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 29, 2020 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
No Singular Self
Sudarshan Shetty's work questions the singularity of identity
Mass Killing
Genocide or not, stop the massacre of Palestinians
Passing on the Gavel
The higher judiciary must locate its own charter in the Constitution. There should not be any ambiguity
India Reads Korea
Books, comics and webtoons by Korean writers and creators-Indian enthusiasts welcome them all
The K-kraze
A chronology of how the Korean cultural wave(s) managed to sweep global audiences
Tapping Everyday Intimacies
Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo departs from his outsized national cinema with low-budget, chatty dramedies
Tooth and Nail
The influence of Korean cinema on Bollywood aesthetics isn't matched by engagement with its deeper themes as scene after scene of seemingly vacuous violence testify, shorn of their original context
Beyond Enemy Lines
The recent crop of films on North-South Korea relations reflects a deep-seated yearning for the reunification of Korea
Ramyeon Mogole?
How the Korean aesthetic took over the Indian market and mindspace
Old Ties, Modern Dreams
K-culture in Tamil Nadu is a very serious pursuit for many