It is wrong to construe that Narendra Modi is for reforms. Though certainly not an alien word, it nonetheless occupies the lowest slot on the doormat of his agenda. His May 30 visit to Rohtas and Bikramganj in the western Bihar is the second in last twenty days with four more visits in the pipeline during the next two months.
Apparently the visits are seen as prelude to formally launching campaign to the assembly elections to be held in October-November, the urgency of holding the rallies underscores some hidden agenda. Simply an electoral compulsion would not have forced him to rush to Patna on April 24, instead of visiting Pahalgam. His decision to skip Pahalgam had invited severe public criticism, but he was unmoved as reproach does not impact his sensitivity.
Addressing the first rally, in the chain, at a rally in Madhubani on April 24, Prime Minister had promised to the people of the country that the terror targets in Pakistan will be decimated and terrorists will be finished for ever. But both are yet to happen. On that day he had taken out a mega roadshow in Patna. People are yet to be informed of the political importance of the roadshow being organised when the country was in mourning following the heinous massacre of 26 innocent tourists in Pahalgam.
A political event has a certain degree of importance. Without any rationale reason no political party organises a rally or holds a public meeting. The logic behind Patna Mega roadshow is still a mystery. The only seemingly plausible reason which was put in public domain was his zeal to revive the organisation in Bihar and rejuvenate the support base in the state.
Modi has embarked on the path to exploit the gains of Operation Sindoor. Only at the Mega roadshow of Gujarat, organised on May 27, he stole the credit from the military and presented it as his personal victory. At a rally in Gujarat’s Bhuj, Modi said, “Pakistan ko atanki bimari se mukt karne ke liye, Pakistan ki awaam ko aage aana hoga. Sukh chain ki zindagi jiyo, roti khao, warna meri goli to hai hi. (To end terrorism in Pakistan, the people of Pakistan need to step forward. Live peacefully and eat your bread, or else my bullet is ready.) Astonishing he claimed the bullets which killed terrorists were his bullets, not of the brave military personnel.
The most despicable aspect of his rally was inviting Sofiya Qureshi, her parents and family members to shower flower on him. Qureshi is a senior officer in the Indian Army, currently holding the rank of colonel. She gained national attention for her leadership role during the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict. Instead of asking her to be the part of crowd, Modi should have visited her house.
During his Rohtas-Bikramganj Mega road show, Modi will be felicitated at 32 places for the success of Operation Sindoor. Is this celebration of his surrendering to the dictat of Donal Trump? During the visit Modi will inaugurate the new terminal of the Patna airport and laying foundation stone for a new airport..
Narendra Modi is determined to win the assembly elections of Bihar and Bengal. An electoral victory in these two politically enduring and vibrant states will simply boost and refurbish his image. Only a year back the RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had questioned his leadership quality and had told that his Hindutva politics has lost relevance. Modi is faced with the arduous task of proving his relevance and reputation.
While PM continues to talk of Sindoor (vermillion) running in his blood, obviously for raising the Hindu passion, he at the same time conceding to Rahul Gandhi’s agenda, announced to conduct caste census. This sudden decision left the country puzzled. Why did the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by the prime minister, agree to it? It is also a fact that so far the RSS has not endorsed his stand. It had called for reconsidering caste-based reservations. This U-turn of Modi, who along with Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath had criticised Rahul, Akhilesh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav for spreading “jativad ka jahar (poison of casteism)” during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign , symbolises the utter confusion that grips him. Both issues are opposed to each other and have antagonistic relations.
Modi is not sure which issue would fetch BJP votes which is why he is desperate to experiment with both the issues. While the upper caste people of the eastern India would feel at his Hindutva rhetoric, by his promise to have caste survey he would succeed to make the Dalits, OBC and EBC rely on his leadership. Incidentally in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s rigorous campaign has made the poor and Dalits to shift their allegiance to INDIA bloc, especially to Congress, This has turned the PM nervous.
Yet another factor for his pursuing a proactive role is completely marginalizing Nitish Kumar. Notwithstanding his health problems, he still continues to enjoy some political credibility. Nitish has also come to realise the threat from Modi and it is evident from his battle of attrition with PM Only on Saturday, Nitish Kumar walked in huff from chief minister’s conference convened by the Prime Minister..
While Nitish is not ready to provide space to Modi, the latter is set to have his own man as the new chief minister of Bihar. Nitish has claimed 122 seats, Modi is not in favour of conceding 40 seats. Battle lines have already been drawn. One step ahead for sidelining Nitish is the rumour being spread by the BJP leaders, is National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has already decided to make Modi the face of their Bihar campaign rather than allowing Nitish.
With Rahul making development a bigger issue in Bihar, a comparatively poor state, Modi has also decided to project himself as a reforms and development savvy leader. During his May 30 visit he would inaugurate a number of projects costing around 14,000 crores. Significantly in 2024 Lok Sabha election, BJP lost seven out of nine seats in the Bikramganj–Magadh Shahabad region. Even in the 2020 assembly polls, NDA couldn’t win any seat in Jehanabad, Patliputra, Buxar and Karakat Lok Sabha seats. The area is viewed as the strong belt of RJD and CPI (ML). Narendra Modi will now make use of his New Normal doctrine and Operation Sindoor to take away a good section of voters to BJP side from RJD-CPI(ML) Liberation influence. Bihar is the first state assembly polls where Modi’s latest hyper nationalism strategy will be tested. (IPA Service)
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