The Strategist has NDA Huffing in Bihar

Lalu Prasad Yadav had stopped Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath midway when he was on his pilgrimage to Ayodhya in Bihar three decades ago. Prashant Kishor of Jan Suraj Party has punctured the campaign of the NDA alliance and brought corruption to the centre stage in the Assembly election due in October-November.

It has become a refrain among people in Bihar that the alliance is groping in the dark for a riposte to the series of exposes on JDU and BJP ministers by Jan Suraj. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has had to turn the focus on corruption during the NDA's regime. He said that the party is preparing a list of corrupt individuals and will release it soon.

"Bihar is sitting on a time bomb of corruption and unemployment”, Tejashwi said, Two of the three planks of Prashant Kishor. He also shared with media persons an old video where prime minister Narendra Modi is seen reeling out the names of 32 scams during the Sushasan Babu Raj.

Tejashwi targeted Nitish Kumar as well saying that the government is distributing without any concern for the state finances and emptying the treasury. The prime minister last month transferred 7.5 thousand crore each into the accounts of 75 lakh women to promote their entrepreneurship with the promise of Rs 2 lakhs to each of them after an assessment. The money has been given in the name of seed capital to start a business. The state budget for 2025-26 is Rs. 3.95 lakh crore but the promises made to the people by the government would require 7.8 lakh crore to fulfill.  To give so small an amount in the name of helping these women to start businesses is nothing but to purchase their votes, people say.

The NDA alliance is in a damage control mode. To control it, it is handing over cash to the voters to keep their vote bank intact and divert their attention from the alleged corruption they have purportedly indulged in the past two decades and yet were able to keep the veneer of Sushasan shining with the support of media persons.

When BJP raised questions about the sources of money Prashan had received. He responded to the charges at a press conference that of Rs. 241 crore he earned by way of giving consultancies to different people and companies he has contributed about 98 crores, left over after his expenses, to the party. He also paid Rs. 38 crore GST and Rs. 20 income tax on Rs. 241 crores. Prashant has targeted the media as well, saying that liquor is smuggled into the state with the connivance of journalists, politicians and bureaucrats.

Home minister Amit Shah is also rattled by these allegations. Several party leaders told First Draft that during a recent visit to the state Shah queried the state leadership at the core committee meeting on these allegations and suggested that those against whom charges have been levelled should respond to them in public as well as explain it to the party leadership.

When a leader at the meeting told Shah in a low tone that the allegations are politically motivated, Shah rejected it out of hand. The other leaders kept mum. The perception has gained among people in the state that chief minister Nitish Kumar has failed to keep a close eye on their ministers who have been stealing from the public funds.

BJP state leadership chose the option of ignoring the charges, saying that the people will give their verdict on it in the election. JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar has spoken out on the allegations against his party colleague Ashok Chaudhary and deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary but no other BJP leaders have supported him. Former union minister and BJP leader R.K. Singh is the line voice over the barrage of charges. Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samata has reacted coldly requesting the chief minister to pay attention to the charges.

The chief minister's house has turned into a fortress, making it very difficult for media persons to reach him for his reactions. He is interacting with the media only through press releases. He is on tour of the state these days but his Praetorian Guard keeps journalists at a distance from him. Chief Minister’s Man Friday and acting national president of JDU is also avoiding media these days.

In this state of communication drought, rumours have taken over. It is rife in Patna that the chief minister has taken resignation from Ashok Chaudhary or he has been asked to explain the charges. The state is between the deep sea and the devil. If he were to take resignation from the ministers on corruption charges, very few of them would escape it.

Officers of the departments of building construction, rural works, water resources and energy have been raided in the past by state or the central probe agencies. Chairman of the power company and IAS officer Sanjeev Hans is behind the bars these days. The economic offences unit of the state police recovered Rs. 11 crores in cash from the residence of Tarini Das, chief engineer of the building construction department. The engineer did not allow the police to search whole night and kept the cash burning during the period. Of note is that Ashok Chaudhary is the minister of the rural works department.

And when the probe unit raided the residence of an engineer of the rural works department, they found that he had set currency notes with lakhs of rupees on fire. Whether the people of Bihar will show the doors to the NDA alliance or continue with the status quo of quid pro quo regime is a question hanging heavy on the state.