Adding pizzazz to the pre-poll debates : Watching the man from Bihar !
- Sangai Express Editorial :: November 02 , 2013 -
Brings to mind the highly quotable quip from Fred Daley, 'Politics is a funny game. One day you are a rooster, the next day you are a feather duster.'
Allies just a few months ago and it is extremely interesting to see the Chief Minister of Bihar and JD (U) leader Mr Nitish Kumar making dents in the armoury of Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP, Narendra Modi, and in the process take the battle away from Mr Rahul Gandhi of the Congress.
Not exactly taking up cudgels on behalf of the Congress, but the punches which Mr Kumar has landed on Mr Modi in the last few days have all the ingredients to work in favour of the Congress.
What is more interesting is the point that the Congress and the JD (U) are not allies, at least as of today. So while the rest of the country is keenly watching the run up to the election, with many interpreting it as a show down between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, it is Mr Nitish Kumar who has been delivering the blows where it would hurt Mr Modi the most.
In the series of verbal blows which Mr Kumar has landed, he has sought to ring out the message that Mr Modi does not deserve to be the Prime Minister of the country.
Contrary to the approach adopted by the Congress so far, the Bihar Chief Minister has steered away from questioning the secular credentials of Mr Modi and instead pounced on the 'historical blunders' committed by him.
A new strategy, a strategy which seeks to portray Mr Modi as an ignorant man, a man who cannot put a finger on Taxila on the Atlas and distinguish between the Gupta dynasty and Maurya dynasty.
How well this strategy will go down with the voters is something which will be known only when the votes start coming in, but Nitish Kumar has managed to expose the chinks in the armoury of Mr Modi, something which Mr Rahul Gandhi or the Congress has been unable to do so, till now.
The twists and turns are interesting. Instead of Gandhi and Modi engaged in a public debate it is the man from Bihar who has come to the centre of this debate.
Amid the punches and counter punches between Mr Kumar and Mr Modi, Rahul Gandhi on the other hand has been stumbling from one gaffe to another.
If his 'nonsense' outburst drew the ire of the political parties across the board, obviously with the exception of the Congress, then his recent statement on receiving intelligence inputs on the Muzzafarnagar communal riots has only provided more fire power to his detractors and not without reason.
How can a person who is not in the Government, but is merely the vice president of a political party be privy to intelligence inputs ? This comes uncomfortably close to a case of riding rough shod over institutionalised channels.
Does not speak well at all of the not so young Gandhi scion and adds substance and meaning to the observation of NCP supremo, Sharad Pawar that Rahul Gandhi lacks experience and should have been in the Government before.
It is early days yet and reading the political tea leaves would be premature, but what can be said without uncertainty is the point that Mr Nitish Kumar has managed to add that extra dose of pizzazz in the debates that generally accompany all general elections in India.
This could also be an indication that provincial leaders may have the last say in which way the political wind will blow, come polling date/s sometime in 2014.
As for Manipur, apart from the BJP and the Congress, the other political parties are yet to raise their pitch.
Whether the parties which have a presence in Manipur can do a Nitish and deliver the punches where it hurts on the Congress is something which only time will tell.
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