New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav’s ongoing Bihar Adhikar Yatra is being viewed in some quarters as a move to assert his leadership within the Opposition alliance in Bihar.
This impression has been fuelled by the Congress party’s hesitation in formally naming Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face. The fact that the RJD leader’s new march was launched shortly after Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra concluded has added to perceptions of a carefully timed political manoeuvre.
However, a close look at Tejashwi’s speeches over the past three days suggests a noticeable shift in approach compared to the campaign he carried out alongside Rahul, indicating that the RJD leader, through his solo yatra, may be aiming for more than just reinforcing his CM candidature.
While the slogan “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod“, the rallying cry of the Voter Adhikar Yatra, still features in his addresses, it now appears only as a concluding slogan.
Instead, Tejashwi has been focusing on core governance issues such as unemployment, price rise, outward migration, corruption, alleged deterioration of law and order, and the lack of industrialisation in Bihar.
The alleged manipulation of the voter list through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, topic Rahul has been vocal about and which was at the core of the Voter Adhikar Yatra held between August 17 and September 1, finds no mention, not even in passing, in Tejashwi’s recent speeches.
This marks a contrast from the earlier yatra, where, alongside Rahul, Tejashwi had also spoken extensively about the alleged flaws in the SIR process, appealing to people to be wary of the possibilities of disenfranchisement as it could lead to “losing access to welfare measures such as pension and ration”.
Tejashwi set out on the Bihar Adhikar Yatra on 16 September, and at every stop along the way, he has returned to a consistent theme: Bihar’s unemployment crisis, the need to create jobs, migration, alleged widespread corruption, “failing” law and order and the lack of industries.
“You stick to issues. They will talk about Hindu-Muslim. We must talk about poverty, price rise, unemployment, factories, education, health,” Tejashwi said at one of his campaign pitstops Friday.
Along the way, he is also sharpening his pitch as the sole alternative to the incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, asking whether Bihar should be governed by “its own son” or by “two Gujaratis”—a veiled reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The RJD has officially stated that Tejashwi Yadav’s new Bihar Adhikar Yatra will primarily cover districts that were left out during the Voter Adhikar Yatra, and is scheduled to conclude on 20 September. However, party sources indicated that the former Bihar deputy chief minister also intends to cover additional parts of the state in the next phase of the yatra.
According to insiders, the RJD felt the need for a solo yatra focused on bread-and-butter issues after realising that the campaign against the SIR process failed to resonate with voters on the ground.
In contrast, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj campaign has tapped into public discontent with the ruling JDU-BJP alliance and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by spotlighting the everyday challenges faced by ordinary citizens.
The Voter Adhikar Yatra had passed through 25 of Bihar’s 38 districts. The Bihar Adhikar Yatra, meanwhile, is covering Nalanda, Patna, Jehanabad, Begusarai, Madhepura, Khagaria, Supaul, Saharsa, Samastipur, Ujiyarpur, and Vaishali.
Tejashwi’s solo Yatra is also taking place at a time seat-sharing talks are underway among the partners of the Mahagathbandhan.
The Congress, enthused by the crowds that the Voter Adhikar Yatra drew, has been resisting the RJD’s pressure on the party to contest fewer seats compared to 2020.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress delivered the worst strike rate among the Mahagathbandhan constituents, winning just 19 of the 70 seats it contested.
The RJD had contested 144 seats and won 75, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), or CPI(ML), also put up a strong showing, winning 12 of the 19 seats it contested.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)