With the Opposition in Bihar waiting to flay chief minister and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar for supporting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K. Advani’s ongoing anti-corruption yatra, the JD(U) hopes to deflect the potential damage
by making a success of the month-long tour of Bihar Mr Kumar is beginning from November 9.
Mr Kumar’s yatra, christened Sewa Yatra and his sixth such tour of Bihar in the six years he has been CM, is going to last over 100 days as the JD(U)’s reluctant prime ministerial aspirant plans to assess and finetune the ruling NDA’s governance model that he often projects as the ideal for the whole nation.
This multi-phase mega tour is expected to work as a major strategic vehicle for the JD(U)’s domestic and national aspirations.
After chief minister Mr Kumar flagged off Mr Advani’s nationwide Janchetna Yatra against corruption from Jayaprakash Narayan’s native village in Bihar on October 11, the state’s Opposition parties — RJD, LJP, Congress, CPI(M-L) and others — have painted the painstakingly secular Mr Kumar on the same page as the “communal forces”.
While a rising Opposition chorus harping on this impression could damage the JD(U)’s Muslim vote base in Bihar and beyond, the RJD-LJP’s argument that Mr Kumar insulted JP’s memories by supporting Mr Advani’s yatra could prove detrimental to the JD(U) in Bihar.