The fifth Bihar rally by the prime minister in the last 4 months was on expected lines. The frequency would only increase from here as the state goes to polls in the next five months. In what has been a tumultuous two months since the pahalgam attack on the 22nd of April, the prime minister has in the meantime visited Bihar thrice for poll campaigning even on the 24th of April itself. This 365 days campaigning has taken a toll on the governance and more importantly the seriousness of political discourse in our country. At a time when the world is in the midst of multiple war fronts, and in Iran we see the US forces poised for a final showdown in what could determine the global order for the immediate future, we find provincial elections taking precedence over strategic alliances and planning.
Before coming to Siwan, the prime minister had a stop over in Odisha too. Where he repeated his claim of declining President trump’s invite, saying he prioritizes lord Jagannath’s Prasad over the White House lunch. No one questioned him though that he visited Croatia in between and it wasn’t a rush for Prasad as he claimed. The Bihar chief minister, speaking at the rally, thanked him for announcing the caste census. Though modi himself stopped shy from speaking about it. It seems like this was a reluctant decision in face rising opposition especially Rahul Gandhi’s pressure on the issue. He is still unsure about selling it to his core constituency of upper caste voters. Bihar has been a tough game for the BJP and is the only Hindi speaking state where it has failed to have a chief minister. In what seems to be the last election for Nitish Kumar, the bjp has the challenge of appropriating his political base.
Elections outweigh everything else
