After the formation of grand alliance government in Jharkhand, the Bihar's opposition too appears spirited. The victory which resulted in Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Hemant Soren replacing Raghubar Das of BJP as Chief Minister has sent a ripple effect into the opposition's ranks in Patna.
The RJD, particularly, has become quite assertive and its activists are now hitting the road more frequently. According to internal assessment of the party, the strike called by it on 21st December to protest against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was quite impactful.
Critics though acknowledge that Tejashawi Yadav is a promising and budding politician yet, they point out that he lacks the experience of leading the alliance in such a critical juncture. Beside he is fighting with a hand tied behind: While his father, Lalu Yadav is ailing in jail, the matrimonial discord in which his elder brother Tej Pratap is involved, is seriously affecting his political activity.
Virtually wiped out by the NDA in May, 2019 general elections, there was little hope for the grand alliance to recover for 2020 assembly election. Despite the non performance of government and soaring crime graph barring sporadic protest the opposition failed to raise these issues to appropriate level.
The recently released Niti Ayog report only establishes what was quite apparent for even an indifferent observer: Bihar stand at the bottom in most parameters especially in education and health.
Though Tejashawi Yadav and to some degree RLSP supremo Upendra Kushwaha did take on the Bihar government for the deteriorating law and order situation as well as the mismanagements in education and health sector yet, in the absence of any coherent strategy their interventions had limited impact.
So dampen was the spirit of Grand Alliance constituents that Pappu Yadav's outfit Jan Adhikar Party activist had become synonymous of the ground protest when issues like Muzaffarpur Shelter Home episode and death of hundreds of Children due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome rocked the state. JAP still dominates in ground protests.
In the meantime, Grand Alliance seems to find the traction in the form of ongoing protest over CAA, NPR and NRC. They have realized that in addition to their core vote base the issue could garner them the support of other social groups who have apprehension over the NRC.
State has a vast number of population across caste groups who face evacuation because of chronic floods every year. Moreover, due to lack of papers to prove their citizenship, many poor and homeless are staring at a bleak future as the fear of NRC looms large.
What might also go into the favor of opposition is that Nitish Kumar supported the CAA which drew a clear line between opposition and NDA. Previously, JDU's stance mostly blurred this distinction as the party on such issues mostly maintained its secular credentials while being part of the right wing alliance.
Prominent Social and political activist Satya Narayan Madan speaking to Bihar Times said, 'Nitish Kumar has enjoy the support of EBC, Dalit and a section of minorities; these very groups are alarmed over the JDU's stand on CAA’.
