With the lok Sabha elections approaching fast and political developments taking pace swiftly in the State after split in the NDA, the Bihar Chief Minister has devised a new way to woo Muslims to his flock.
The Government has announced to put hoardings highlighting Government’s achievement in Urdu in Muslim-dominated areas.
Politically, the 17 per cent minority presence in the State holds a sizeable electoral influence for any political party and ever since his party JD(U)’s break-up with the BJP on June 16, Nitish Kumar has been eyeing support of Muslims in the forthcoming Parliamentary polls.
Though, the State Government officials have declared that the hoardings highlighting State Government’s achievement in Urdu in Muslim-dominated areas would “help them to understand Government policies better”, but the political observers are reading between the lines.
“What is there to read between the linesIJ...It’s all clear and Nitish Kumar has been doing such politics of appeasement for long. It’s a clear move to appease them in view of the upcoming lok Sabha polls,” reacted firebrand State BJP leader Giriraj Singh.
Singh, however, also added that such smart move of Kumar would not pay him off electorally. “People of the State know such tactics very well as whether Nitish Kumar, the Congress or the lJP are making desperate move to woo minorities for votes. let them vie with each other for this but they all will be exposed when the time comes,” he said emphatically.
Political observers of the State said that it was Congress Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra who had first accorded Urdu as the second language of the State in an apparent bid to woo the minority votes. “And, it also paid him electorally for a long time,” said an observer.
The Bihar Government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too had started several welfare programmes and policies for the minority community and getting sizeable support from them, especially from the pasmanda, backward Muslims.
Fortification of graveyard, several educational schemes for Muslims girl students, land made available readily for the branch of the Aligarh Muslim University at Kishanganj along with other welfare measures have been the main highlights of the Nitish Government for the minority community in the State.
In about 57 Assembly constituencies, mainly from border districts like Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Motihari, the minority votes determine fate of political parties in the State.
The ruling party JD(U) sees nothing political in such a Government move of putting up hoardings written in Urdu in Muslim-dominated areas. “What’s wrong into itIJ It’s for the convenience of those people who feel comfortable in reading Urdu and want to know about what the Nitish Government is doing for them,” said JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar.
But, the State BJP leaders and political pundits of the State take the move otherwise. “It’s not only political but electoral move taken at the right time by Nitish Kumar who wants to make inroads into the community more effectively,” said professor NK Choudhury.