The final nomination day for 121 seats in the first phase of Bihar elections coming to a close Friday, the offices of the two main parties of the two main camps, located metres from each other on Patna’s Beer Chand Patel Path, are pictures in contrast.
A man leans against a huge replica of the party’s lantern symbol at the RJD headquarters, his voice cutting through the murmurs of a small group. “Seats and fields should have been divided much earlier; we shouldn’t have left room for this tug-of-war,” he says.
The thought seems to be writ large on all faces streaming in and out of the RJD office, a blur of white kurta-pyjamas, as the Mahagathbandhan comprising the RJD, Congress, Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) missed the crucial deadline to declare its seat deal. As of now, the parties are assigning symbols to their chosen candidates, in the hope that amiable withdrawals will happen, in time for the alliance to keep up a joint front.
The RJD office in Patna (Himanshu Harsh)
The BJP’s headquarters is 100 metres away, and while alliance tremors were felt here too, the party seems characteristically on firm ground now, with its campaign machinery buzzing. Rooms hold publicity material, and arrangements have been made on the grounds outside to accommodate what won’t fit.
At the RJD office, a party worker who does not want to be named wipes the sweat from his brow as he talks about the behind-the-scenes scramble in the Mahagathbandhan. However, he hopes the worst is over: “For the first phase, symbols have been distributed to candidates, and most second-phase picks will be finalised within two days.”
The party leader adds that the last-minute hitch has been on account of the VIP’s Mukesh Sahani. “Sahani ji keeps stalling the deal, otherwise, we would have wrapped this up days ago… He is asking for 40 seats! If you won’t put in the effort on the ground, how can you claim so many seats?”
The VIP won 4 seats in 2020, as a part of the NDA. While one of its MLAs died after the elections, the other 3 crossed over to the BJP.
Among the hopefuls hanging about at the RJD office is Chandeshwar Dhankar, who belongs to the Dom community, one of the most marginalised Dalit groups. He says he submitted his application for a ticket from Rajnagar a week ago. “I have been coming here daily, hoping… How can I run away after all this?” Dhankar, 52, who has never fought an election before, says.
A reserved constituency that was won by the BJP last time, Rajnagar will vote in the second phase. However, Dhankar fears time is running out as the nomination deadline for the second phase is Monday. “With Saturday tomorrow, Sunday after, and Diwali on Monday, all are holidays… Party leaders have assured us we will soon know who gets the ticket.”
A short distance away, a man is pacing, speaking loudly into his phone. “Winning elections demands public support, power and money. Our candidate has all that, the ticket shouldn’t go to anyone else, sir,” he urges.
In a corner, a knot of people stand around a woman, chanting slogans of “Rekha Paswan zindabad” – the party has given her the symbol from Masaurhi constituency in Patna.
A group of over 20 men, including Babul Khan, Chandrashekhar Yadav, Md Aftab Warsi and Rinku ‘Sarpanch’, are here from Nathnagar constituency, an RJD stronghold in Bhagalpur district, to seek a ticket for Zaid Hasan, a bureaucrat who took VRS in July and has reportedly been active in the field. “We have been sitting here for 15 days, but all we have received so far are assurances,” complains Warsi, adding that the constituency’s “85,000 Muslim and 42,000 Yadav voters” are all with Hasan.
The RJD’s sitting MLA from the seat, Ali Ashraf Siddiqui, “is over 70 and no longer able to be active in the field”, Warsi adds.
Saad Ahmed, a 35-year-old who is here from Dhaka in East Champaran district, is also seeking a ticket saying the party needs young leaders like him. He dismisses misgivings about the Mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing delay. “We have been running our campaign for the past two months, taking the party’s message to every household. Once the party declares its candidate, we are ready to file the nomination.”
Off to the left, there is a stall hawking RJD campaign gear, including flags, badges, caps, scarves, gamchas and badges, with banners carrying prominent images of RJD founder Lalu Prasad and chief minister hopeful Tejashwi Yadav.
Vendor Arvind Kumar, who is an RJD worker and says he has been selling campaign material since the party’s Janata Dal days, says: “I set up the stall three-four days ago, and have been selling 10,000 items daily.”
Today there are very few customers around, but Kumar is hopeful things will pick up after Chhath Puja. There is another reason he expects sales to get better. “This time, people want change.”
Not if the BJP has anything to do with it. Right outside its office stands a white vehicle fitted with a dais to hold rallies, while inside, rooms are spilling over with campaign and advertising material. Planning is being done, for everything from rallies to assignment of helicopters and vehicles, and arranging of accommodation for campaigners, to coordination among NDA allies.
To create space, the BJP has opened a wing of its media section in a nearby hotel.
“We have set up around 60 departments to look after election-related activities. Each department has an in-charge with a team of three to four. We have a separate media cell to relay every message on a real-time basis,” says Danish Eqbal, the Bihar BJP media in-charge. “Ministers and leaders have started their visits. We are fully prepared.”