CASTING A WIDER NET

THE 2020 MISSED-BY-A-WHISKER ELECTION BEHIND HIM, THE RJD SCION IS TAKING NO CHANCES AS HE GOES ALL-OUT TO WOO SECTIONS THAT HAVE SO FAR BEEN COLD TO THE PARTY

- AMITABH SRIVASTAVA

WAS ASWELTERING SATURDAY IN PATNA ON MAY 8, but the heat wasn't just from the rising mercury in the summer. At the Miller High School Ground in the centre of the city, Tejashwi Yadav was whipping up some serious passion of his own. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was addressing a rally—the 'Ati-Pichhda Jagao, Tejashwi Sarkar Banao (Wake Up the EBCs, Elect a Tejashwi government)' rally organised by his party’s EBC (Extremely Backward Classes) cell. “No EBC community has prospered, while Nitish has flourished,” Tejashwi thundered, mounting a salvo against his once grand ally—Janata Dal (United) supremo and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. He promised them jobs and safety; freedom from crimes and criminals too. “Jo apraadh karega, gareebon ka shoshan karega, apamanit karega, usko main jail bhijwaunga (Whoever commits a crime, exploits or insults the poor, I will send them to jail),” he vowed, positioning himself in just that single sentence as a bulwark against injustice as well as indignity.

Just four days earlier, on April 29, Tejashwi had been addressing an altogether different assembly—of the economically forward Vaishya or trader community. The occasion was Bhama Shah Jayanti, and the state RJD office had organised a function to honour the 16th-century merchant hero. “Your enterprise has driven Bihar’s growth,” he told them, “yet the current regime never recognised your contributions." It was a pivot for a party that has seldom shown any affection for the merchant community. Tejashwi reminded the gathering how, during his brief tenure as deputy chief minister between August 2022 and January 2024, he had brought in "Rs 50,000 crore in fresh investment" and delivered "half a million jobs". The ground laid thus, Tejashwi got down to business. "If you walk one step with me, I will walk four with you." The audience expressed its approval, with a giant burst of applause.