Bihar vote to test Modi’s reform push
STATE’S LEADERS TO MOUNT POLL FIGHT
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a crucial test tomorrow when Bihar, one of India’s largest and poorest states, begins voting in polls that could have major consequences for his troubled reform drive.
Mr Modi has mounted a no-holds barred campaign, promising Biharis billions of US dollars for development in a state where many of its 104 million people still vote along caste lines.
He is up against an unlikely alliance of two powerful local leaders, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his predecessor Lalu Prasad Yadav, who has served time in prison for corruption.
Their rivalry goes back decades, but both men — who command widespread support among the lower castes — have put their differences aside to thwart Mr Modi, highlighting the premier’s polarising nature.
Voting begins tomorrow and runs in five phases, with the results due on Nov 8.
Mr Modi himself has been at the forefront of his party’s campaign, addressing a host of rallies, including one on Friday near the town of Aurangabad attended by about 10,000 people.
“This 21st century election will show where Bihar stands not only on the map of India, but also on the map of the world,” Mr Modi told the crowds.
He accused the opposition of failing to better the state’s fortunes in their combined six decades in power, citing high youth employment and poor power infrastructure.
Two-thirds of Biharis lack access to electricity, according to the World Bank.
“I’m supporting Modi because he wants to develop Bihar,” said Sonu Jaiswal, 37, as she watched Mr Modi in a giant field.
“We’re 100% sure the Modi government will win.”
But analysts say the outcome is too close to call.
And as criticism mounts that Mr Modi’s pledge to transform the economy is running out of steam, observers say a defeat for his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will heighten the sense of declining momentum.
Sanjay Kumar, of the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said there was a widespread fear within the party that defeat could signal “the beginning of an end of the BJP government”, even though the next general election is not until 2019.
“There is a huge rivalry in this election between what we call the backward castes and the forward castes,” Mr Kumar said.
Assembly elections are important not only because state leaders wield significant power, but because parties gain seats in India’s upper house of parliament, where the BJP lacks a majority.
In a personal humiliation for Mr Modi, the BJP lost an election in February for the New Delhi state assembly to a fledgling anti-corruption party.
The campaign for Bihar has been dogged by religious tensions after a Muslim was lynched by a Hindu mob in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh last month over unsubstantiated claims that he was eating beef.
After 10 days of silence on the killing, Mr Modi on Thursday used an election rally in Bihar, which is majority-Hindu but has sizeable Muslim, Christian and Sikh minorities, to appeal for unity.