Patna,(BiharTimes): When he was sharing power with the BJP in the state Nitish Kumar would frequently launch Yatras. A couple of them were launched a few months before election. Once during the Yatra he even held a cabinet meeting in a village of Begusarai district. All his ministers and top officials were present on the occasion. During year-end he would sometimes go to Rajgir to spend holidays. Senior bureaucrats with files would follow him.
As the opposition was weak there were fewer charges of misuse of government machinery. In the name of ‘development’ the media would remain silent though there was no denying the fact that the government money would be spent to propagate the achievements of Janata Dal(United)-Bharatiya Janata Party rule.
Four months ahead of the Assembly election of 2015 the Janata Dal (United) government in Bihar on June 9 launched “Badh Chala Bihar––Bihar@2025”.
According to Nitish Kumar himself “this campaign is being held under the ambit of the information and public relations department (IPRD).”
So while launching it he did not specifically mention the name of Prashant Kishor or his team––the brain behind Narendra Modi’s Chai Pe Charcha and a host of other programmes in which crores of rupees were spent.
Though Nitish denied that it was an election campaign Prashant’s stamp was very much there though he himself was not visible at the function.
The only difference is that unlike in the past the BJP has come down heavily on the chief minister for allegedly misusing the government fund for the election campaign.
Former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who used to defend the past Yatras, now alleges that Nitish Kumar is using tax payers’ money for his own ends.
But, according to SuMo, the use of government machinery would have no impact on the Assembly election. The fact that Nitish Kumar is doing it at the fag end of his tenure indicates that he has lost confidence in himself.
As this ambitious contact campaign is aimed at creating a vision document for the state for the next 10 years the intention is quite clear. Nitish has a desire to rule Bihar for 20 years as his Bade Bhai and now an ally Lalu Prasad would often boast during his heydays.
In the next six weeks, 10,000 people would reach out to the population of around four crore living in 40,000 villages of Bihar. The high-tech campaign would show-case the achievements of the Nitish government and seek their views on what they want in the next 10 years.
What is more the chief minister did not rule out the possibility of the Janata Dal (United)’s election manifesto heavily relying on the vision document being prepared. He said there is nothing wrong with it? Other parties may also take advantage of the vision document.
Like during the last year Lok Sabha election campaign––when the BJP indulged in the same practice nationally––the Election Commission could find no fault with such misuse of the government fund. This was also because the parties advanced their timing of campaign much before the dates were announced and Model Code of Condcut comes into effetct.
Even if the parties pay for the campaign––which is not the case this time in Bihar––they surpass all the limits put by the EC. All this because the parties have learnt the art to hoodwink the Election Commission.