All eyes on Bihar polls : Modi realises the power of 'Vikas purush' as he banks again on Nitish Kumar ::: But PM raised Sitaram Kesri exposing Congress 'first family's' authoritarian style

The polling for the 243 member Bihar assembly is scheduled in two phases — November 6 and 11.  

Electioneering - as expected - has reached a feverish pitch. 

Addressing a poll rally in Begusarai, PM Narendra Modi raked up the alleged ill-treatment meted out to Kesri when in a bllodless coup, Sonia Gandhi took over as the Congress president. 

Modi sought to make a blistering attack Rahul Gandhi, his mom Sonia and the Congress party that = "the pride of Bihar and a towering backward leader" was humiliated by the Congress.

Sitaram Kesri, an OBC leader, was former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao's choice to become Congress president in 1996 when Rao had stepped down.

Kesri was an AICC Treasurer (and a trusted one) for long. He was AICC president between September 1996 up to 14th March 1998, when Sonia Gandhi with the help of of her inner coteries and the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad had replaced Kesri. This is not the first time Modi has used the Sitaram Kesri episode to slam Congress. 

"Congress threw Sitaram Kesri, who was from Other Backward Classes (OBC), on the footpath. That video is available. The entire country watched," PM Modi said in his address in the Rajya Sabha in February 2024.

Before becoming Prime Minister or rather even before being named as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2013 at the BJP national executive meet; Modi used the same example to corner Congress. 

Castewise Kesris are OBC but electorally it may not make much of an impact indirectly. Yet the political fodder is enough to drive home the point that the Congress and especially the leaders such as Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are hardly democratic.  

After India won Independence, Kesri continued his political journey with the Congress party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Katihar constituency in 1967 and later served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Bihar for five terms between 1971 and 2000. 

During his tenure, he held the position of treasurer for the All India Congress Committee (AICC) starting in 1980 and was a Union Minister under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and P V Narasimha Rao.  

One of the most significant difficulties Kesri faced was the perception that he was attempting to 'Mandalise' the Congress by aligning with backward caste leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kanshi Ram, Lalu Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, and Nitish Kumar. 

In 1997, he took a highly controversial decision when he drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan and withdrew support to the H D Deve Gowda government. 

Congress leaders on Friday paid rich tributes to former party chief Sitaram Kesri on his 25th death anniversary at the AICC headquarters in the national capital, with the BJP saying the opposition party is remembering him just because of the ensuing Bihar polls.

"Kesri hailed from a backward class and rose to become the Congress president. But at the instance of the parivar, he was humiliated," the prime minister said.

"The country can never forget the manner in which Kesri was humiliated by this Congress family. Today reminds us what the Congress can do to snatch the rights of Dalits and backwards. Only the family matters for that party.

Bihar elections are now the talk of the town as the competition is stiff between BJP-JD(U)-LJP (NDA) and the RJD-Congress combine.

Rahul Gandhi's Vote Chori issue is hardly being raised in the campaigning.

Congress also had reservation in naming RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face. But now that issue has been resolved.

RJD's chief political plank is MY - Muslim-Yadav card as used to be during the Lalu Prasad days.

The 1990-2005 -- the 15 year rule of Lalu Prasad was also dubbed as the Jungle Raj.

Kidnapping for ransom had become a principal profession for the musclemen and goondaism was the order of the day.  

P V Narasimha Rao

Nitish Kumar gave JD(U)-BJP combine the first mega success in November 2005. Since then Nitish Kumar is Bihar's chief minister.

At times Kumar even worked out political dealings with the RJD and was able to ensure his chair.

Notably, in a first for this year's polls, the Prime Minister endorsed Nitish Kumar as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial face.  

"He came to power in 2005, but nearly a decade of his tenure was hampered by a hostile Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, which was constantly blackmailed by the RJD that it would withdraw support if cooperation was extended to the NDA government in Bihar," the Prime Minister said.

"This time, under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, NDA will break all its previous records of victory. Bihar will give NDA its biggest ever mandate," he stressed. Parties such as AIMIM is contesting as many as 35 seats and this move threatens to weaken RJD's hold over support base.

Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj is in the race for the first time.

His three candidates Mutur Shah, Satya Prakash Tiwari and Shashi Shekhar Sinha have withdrawn their nominations provoking Kishor to allege the BJP for working on these desertions in his camp.

"The BJP has built an image in the last few years that no matter who wins elections, the BJP forms the government. Look at the condition of the party that called Jan Suraaj a vote-cutter and said we have no identity. The polling process has begun, and NDA is terrified," he said.

ends