Attacks on PM, BJP to form Cong poll strategy

The Congress is planning to centre its Bihar election strategy on targeted attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), people familiar with the matter said, with some hinting that the party wants to “keep our doors open” for its former ally and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

At a press conference in Patna last week, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had described the Bihar government as a "remote-controlled" one, asserting that decision-making is dictated from New Delhi. In the scathing 42-page "charge sheet" titled "20-Saal, Vinash Kaal" against the Kumar-led NDA government, the Congress accused the Bihar chief minister of breaking promises, the attacks were more directed towards the BJP and the central government. It questioned the governance issues in Bihar but branded the government as the "BJP-led government" or as the "NDA government", not to single out Kumar.

Throughout the charge sheet, the Congress questioned the governance issues but branded the government as BJP-led government or as the NDA government, not to single out Kumar.

Two senior Congress leaders told HT that the party will take a calibrated approach in the run up to the polls vis-à-vis its campaign against Kumar and the BJP, and it will treat Kumar's JD(U) and Modi-led BJP as separate entities.