Parties united against Modi, but stick to their individual agenda

PATNA: It had been billed as the Swabhiman rally of the anti-BJP coalition in Bihar, comprising chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), the Lalu Prasad-led RJD and the Congress.

Its importance, underscored by the presence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, lay as much in emphasising the unity of the three parties as in their shared need to stop the PM in quick succession after the BJP defeat in the Delhi assembly poll.

Yet, despite the shared thrust of the need to stop Modi, the speeches of the top three leaders were remarkable for their differences in emphasis — each representing the main issues every party is fighting for in this election.

Gandhi mainly attacked Modi on national- level issues like his failure to provide jobs to the youth, his ‘ anti- farmer’ land bill, which he was now set to withdraw under Opposition and the ‘communal’ agenda of the ruling BJP.

Those watching Prasad over the years were inclined to spot a certain ‘aloofness’ in his body language towards the Congress president, on the rally dais. Kumar’s emphasis was to play up the Bihari pride by seeking to make an issue out of the way PM Modi had challenged the ‘Bihari DNA’ by questioning Kumar’s (political) DNA.

Unlike Kumar’s appeal to all sections, Prasad’s emphasis was to forge an electoral unity between the different classes.