Posters, “yatras” and rallies have re-emerged as the most favourite mediums among politicians to reach out to the common masses in Bihar, particularly when the next lok Sabha elections are nearly one year away.
The JD(U) had already finished its job of organising “Adhikar rallies” in Patna and New Delhi in the interval of less than five months on the issue of special status to the State.
Now, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on his second leg of “Seva Yatra”, visiting districts of North Bihar from May 1, primarily with the objective to supervise various development projects. He also inaugurated 300 development projects in Gopalganj district besides providing financial incentives to the youth belonging to the Muslim community during his “Seva Yatra”.
Though everything went quite well for Nitish except one irritant in the shape of posters, featuring Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister of the country at various corners of Gopalganj.
State BJP president Mangal Pandey told The Pioneer that some enthusiastic party workers might have done so without taking the prior permission from the State party office.
Pandey said that workers erected posters to express their sentiments and everybody is free to do so in a democratic set-up.
He said that the party also does not find any reason to remove these posters as workers have erected them to reflect their inner feelings.
On the other hand, RJD chief lalu Prasad not caring for the prevailing heat wave conditions is touring various districts of the State to invite people to attend the party-sponsored “Parivartan Rally” in Patna on May 15.
Though his party’s preparations for the “Parivartan Rally” are not without hiccups as the local district administration has gone tough against erection of big hoardings around roundabouts and also on the road dividers.
District Magistrate of Patna N Saravana Kumar said that hoardings around the roundabouts spoil beauty of the city while big posters on dividers obstruct the vision of commuters and expose road users to the risk of accidents. Hoardings are being removed without any political motive, he added.
For the first time, a good number of “Parivartan Rally” posters have been printed in Urdu too with an objective to woo Muslims who constitute nearly 16 per cent of the State’s population.
lalu has focused his full attention on the “Parivartan Rally” as he wants to gauge the level of popularity among people. It will be for the first time after the ouster of its Government in 2005, the RJD will organise a rally on such a big scale.
Though his public meetings organised during the “Parivartan Yatra” evoked good response, Yadav considers that the “Parivartan Rally” could prove as a game-changer for his party.
“If the turnout at the rally is really impressive, it will help enthuse RJD cadre significantly in the single stroke,” remarked a senior RJD leader on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier, lJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan also toured various districts of the State under his “Bihar Bachao Yatra”. He was successful in attracting a large number of people to his public meetings organised during his long yatra.
Bihar Congress with the appointment of a young leader, Ashok Choudhary as the State party president, has also stepped up its efforts to put such posters to the best use.
The party has erected posters at some vantage points in Patna with Choudhary thanking the party chief Sonia Gandhi for sanctioning Rs12,000 crore to the State for the remainder period of the 12th Five Year Plan.