In Bihar, the INDIA bloc fights a perception battle

Will it be the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that will assume office in Patna on November 14, when the Bihar assembly election results are announced? Or will it be the Mahagathbandhan (a phalanx of the larger Opposition alliance, the INDIA bloc, in Bihar)? There's also a third player that is keenly watched — the Jan Suraaj Party, founded by pollster Prashant Kishor, who may emerge as a kingmaker.

- Sunita Aron

The upcoming polls area high-stakes battle for the big players in the state — the BJP, its allies the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), and the Lok Janshakti PartyRam Vilas Paswan (LJP-RVP), and, on the other side, the Congress and its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Hectic discussions are on among alliance partners to iron out differences and finalise seat deals as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, there has been considerable excitement in the Opposition ranks over the camaraderie between the INDIA bloc’s three relatively young leaders — the RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, the Congress's Rahul Gandhi, and the Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav (from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh). Relegating the complexities of their parties’ individual political aspirations to the backseat, the first two have travelled across thestate along with the third, drawing crowds. The BJP, for its part, is determined to crack the state which it has never won without an ally. The Congress has experience of ruling the state onits own, for the better part of the period from Independence to 1990. Thereafter, the Mandal parties —RJD and JD(U) —took charge.

The three INDIA bloc leaders seem to have generated hope among those in the state who seek political change. Ideologically though, this chunk of the population doesn’t seem averse to CM Nitish Kumar and LJP leader Chirag Paswan — BJP allies in the state and the Centre.