Lack of unity, seat-sharing row did grand alliance in Bihar elections

The Mahagathbandhan's approach to contesting the Bihar election appears to be the textbook case of how not to fight a poll. Unable to resolve the seat-sharing dispute till the end, alliance candidates ended up in "friendly contests" in 11 Assembly seats. As a result, these seats were lost to the NDA. "There are many reasons for the Mahagathbandhan's defeat. It cannot be attributed to just one factor. Among them was the delay in projecting RJD's Tejashwi Yadav as the CM face. Apart from it, the 'grand alliance' never gave the impression that it was contesting unitedly," said Congress MP Tariq Anwar.

Former Union minister Shakeel Ahmad, who recently quit the Congress, said the results showed that the trend of voting which started in Bihar in 2005 continues. "The Congress failed to reverse it," he said.

Childish behaviour

The run-up to the elections for the Mahagathbandhan was full of whims. Angry over the Congress' refusal to name him as the CM face, the alliance's only star campaigner — Tejashwi — remained locked in his residence for six days after filing his nomination papers. It was only after former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehkot intervened that the matter was resolved.

Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahni also threw tantrums for not being declared the Deputy CM face. He only relented after he was named one of the two probable Deputy CMs. Later, there was a hue and cry over a Muslim not being declared in the list of Deputy CMs. So another announcement came that a Muslim would be made Deputy CM — a third one.

The VIP created a record of sorts when it decided to withdraw its candidate from Gaurabaran, a seat located in Darbhanga, in favour of a rebel RJD candidate who had refused to withdraw from the contest. In another incident, candidates, who were given RJD ticket, were later asked to withdraw. However, several candidates like Ritu Jaiswal contested as rebels, leading to the rout.

Unrealistic announcements

In its manifesto, the Mahagathbandhan promised one government job with a salary of Rs 40,000 per month to each family in Bihar. With around 2.5 crore such families in the state, the promise appeared unrealistic as Tejashwi refused to explain the source of money for implementing his idea. Tejashwi went on to make more unrealistic promises, which even stunned his supporters. He pledged to make all contractual government workers permanent and promised government jobs to Jeevika workers. He also said after taking the oath as the CM, he would ensure that every woman would get Rs 30,000 under the Mai Bahin Yojana.

Unorganised campaigning

The campaigning was unorganised. Tejashwi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared and shared the stage just a couple of times. Tejashwi virtually took upon himself the entire weight of campaigning, addressing as many as 18 meetings per day. "It was funny. He used to wave to the crowd and ask them to vote for the Mahagathbandhan and then get into a helicopter again to fly off to another meeting. When I campaign, I get tired after addressing three meetings. You have to give time to the crowd, or they perceive you to be arrogant," said Shahnawaz Hussain, former MP. During the campaigning, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi failed to connect with the locals as they targeted PM Narendra Modi and raised the Adani and Ambani issues, which failed to influence the local population. Incidentally, in the Kahalgaon Assembly seat in Bhagalpur district, Rahul, Priyanka and Tejashwi campaigned separately, yet the seat went to the JD(U).