look news india
Once again a new round of internal rhetoric has started in the politics of Bihar and the ruling NDA clan. After losing the Legislative Council (MLC) by-election from Tirhut Graduate Constituency, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has adopted a tough stance on the statement of ‘Chakravyuh and Abhimanyu’ made by Janata Dal United (JDU) national spokesperson Abhishek Jha. Senior BJP leader and former MP-MLA Sunil Pintu gave an aggressive reply to Abhishek Jha’s allegations and said that no one had created any maze within the NDA. Sunil Pintu bluntly said that Abhishek Jha is not ‘Abhimanyu’, rather he lost the election due to his own administrative and technical mistakes. After this war of words, the temperature of tussle and rhetoric has increased in the political circles within Bihar NDA.
Conflict within NDA started due to Facebook post of ‘Abhimanyu’
The entire controversy started when JDU-supported candidate Abhishek Jha from Tirhut Graduate seat had to face defeat at the hands of independent candidate Banshidhar Brajwasi by a huge margin of 9,147 votes. After the election results came, Abhishek Jha shared a long emotional post on his social media account. He raised the question in his post, “Was he not left alone like Abhimanyu in the maze created within his own political family (NDA)?” Apart from this, he claimed that about 4,700 votes cast in his favor were invalidated only because ‘correct’ (✓) was marked instead of 1 written in front of the name on the ballot paper. This direct gesture of Abhishek Jha created huge resentment among the NDA allies, especially within the BJP.
Sunil Pintu’s sharp attack: ‘Graduate voters do not make such mistakes’
Responding to Abhishek Jha’s allegations, BJP leader Sunil Pintu came in front of the press and expressed his anger. He said that it is completely wrong to blame the alliance or allies for its defeat.
-
Technical lapses and voter awareness: Sunil Pintu said that the voters in Tirhut graduate elections are educated graduates. 1, 2, 3 are written to show the order of preference in the election process. If supporters of a candidate put a tick mark (✓) and 4,700 votes were cancelled, it is a failure of voting training of the candidate and his election agents, and not a conspiracy by any ally.
-
Alliance religion and allegiance: The BJP MLA clarified that all the NDA workers had worked with full dedication in the elections. After the defeat, his attempt to garner sympathy by calling himself ‘Abhimanyu’ of Mahabharata and raising questions on his own comrades shows lack of political maturity.
Election equation of Tirhut graduate seat and meaning of defeat
Tirhut Graduate constituency has been one of the coveted MLC seats of Bihar for quite some time now. Earlier, Devesh Chandra Thakur used to represent this seat, but after his election as MP, a situation of by-election was created here. JDU had gambled on its young spokesperson Abhishek Jha, but for the second consecutive time, independent candidate Banshidhar Brajwasi retained his hold by winning with a huge majority.
Immediately after this election result, the meeting of the victorious independent MLC with top BJP leaders and state leadership has also heated up the discussions. There is disappointment in the JDU camp that during the elections, the NDA cadre could not completely unite at the grassroots level and transfer votes.
Wake-up call for NDA before the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar
This latest dispute between Abhishek Jha and Sunil Pintu is not limited to the loss of just one MLC seat. Amidst the preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar, the coming face to face of leaders of the two major constituent parties of NDA (BJP and JDU) in public forums like this points towards the lack of coordination within the alliance. Political analysts believe that if the top leadership does not control such rhetoric and internal differences in time, then this factionalism may prove costly for the NDA in the upcoming major election contests. At present, the official response of senior JDU leaders on this entire episode is awaited.