The Maharajganj by-election result has proved beyond doubt that all is not well between the BJP and the JD(U) in Bihar as the NDA candidate was defeated by over 1.37 lakh votes. The reason for such an ignominious defeat is attributed to the collapse of ground-level cooperation among workers of the two parties.
Though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tried his level best to underplay the defeat of the JD(U) candidate by arguing that the election result will not have any impact on the NDA unity, damage has already been done as workers of both parties are apparently confused over the future of the alliance.
Nitish argued that he did not see that the NDA had suffered any loss due to the defeat in the by-election as the RJD had only managed to retain its seat. But his ministerial colleague and State Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh refused to accept the theory. He contended that the result was a debacle for the NDA as voters were “aggrieved” over JD(U)’s consistent opposition to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
His allegations may have an element of truth as a large number of upper caste voters turned up to exercise their franchise in favour of the RJD candidate Prabhunath Singh.
JD(U) nominee and State Education Minister PK Shahi also charged that local BJP leaders and workers in Mahrajganj constituency did not support him completely.
The sharpest comments after the Maharajganj debacle, however, came from BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who said that both BJP and JD(U) require Narendra Modi for strengthening the NDA’s position in the 2014 lok Sabha election.
Following Maharajganj by-election defeat, Nitish Kumar, who is already under tremendous pressure to mend fences with the BJP, claimed that leaders and workers of both JD(U) and BJP made tireless efforts for the success of Shahi in the by-election.
Nitish Kumar said that the Maharajganj by-election was fought on the local issues and he did not see any reason to get disturbed over the by election result.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy was, however, completely unsparing in his assessment, stating that a “research” should be done to understand the Maharajganj debacle. He said that the JD(U) should not hesitate in taking services of Narendra Modi in Bihar by arguing that it is not only the BJP that requires him but also the JD(U) if both parties wish to take on their rivals more effectively in the 2014 lok Sabha election.
A vocal supporter of Narendra Modi and Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh told The Pioneer that Nitish Kumar should not accept the definition of secularism, given by the Congress for the vote politics and instead should support the new definition of secularism given by Narendra Modi.
Narendra Modi has accepted an altogether different principle of secularism, based on “Sanatan Dharma”, which has one guiding principle- -- “appeasement for none and development for all”, Singh said that hatred against any person cannot make a person secular and hence nobody should attempt it.