RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s indelible image as an “anti-development politician” in Bihar before his years as the railway minister is being optimally used by chief minister Nitish Kumar and top BJP leaders like L.K. Advani in their campaign speeches even as Mr Yadav continues claiming that his RJD-LJP alliance would form Bihar’s next government.
Along with repeatedly stressing the achievements of Mr Kumar’s incumbent government and the praises they have drawn, the NDA leaders have been condemning Bihar’s lack of progress during the RJD’s rule in the previous 15 years and attacking the Congress in the same breath for supporting the RJD governments. Mr Yadav, despite employing his best oratorical prowess to pinpoint the failures of Mr Kumar’s JD(U)-BJP government, seems to be caught in his own image of a leader who symbolises Bihar’s gradual decline from previous glory.
On Saturday, addressing an NDA campaign meeting in Nalanda for Bihar’s fifth phase of Assembly polls, Mr Kumar said Mr Yadav and development were antonyms. “Lalu gets furious with talks of development like bull does seeing a red rag,” said Mr Kumar, sending a sizeable crowd into peals of laughter. Kumar also berated the Congress for its criticism of his government in the poll campaigns.