Decoded: Nitish Kumar’s open letter to Modi

Just the way Congress is trying to beat BJP at its own game in the Parliament, Nitish Kumar is using the same approach with PM Modi in the run-up to the assembly election in Bihar.

A master politician, Nitish Kumar knows that nothing works like playing the victim card. So he is carefully using this to the hilt by harping on the DNA comment made by Modi in his Muzaffarpur speech, trying to galvanise support of the entire state for him. This is clearly a play from Modi’s own rulebook.

Remember when Modi used "the image and pride of 5.5 crore Gujaratis" to fend off every attack on him? One can see the same strategy in the "Bihari asmita" (Bihari pride) card that ​Nitish is playing now.

Modi turned the entire Lok Sabha election on its head by latching on to an ill-timed "chaiwala" comment made by Mani Shankar Aiyar. Similarly, he also gave a spin to Priyanka Gandhi’s "neechi rajneeti" statement, turning it into an issue of caste. To an aspirational India that placed value on self-made individuals, Modi managed to pitch the election debate as one between the haves and the have-nots, the elites and the working class. A "ma-bete ki sarkaar" trying to demean a "chaiwala" became the focal point of the entire political campaign, with offshoots like Chai ki Charcha as clever political manoeuvrings to keep the pot boiling.

Nitish Kumar now has Modi’s point person for that famous campaign, Prashant Kishore, in his own backyard. So, unsurprisingly, shades of Modi’s campaign are present in the build-up to Nitish Kumar’s fight for Bihar. Joining Twitter and doing media chats is all part of creating a buzz around him in the run-up to the polls. The million dollar question is this— will the remark on problems with Nitish Kumar’s DNA boomerang badly for Modi? Or will it turn out to be a damp squib?

For starters, to explain what "problems with DNA" to a largely rural population will be much tougher than explaining a "chaiwala" jibe. But it doesn’t mean that this concerted effort will have no impact. Nitish, by pointing out that entire Bihar was humiliated, is trying to wean away some of the upper caste votes which is currently firmly behind the BJP-led NDA. On the other hand, he will try to further solidify the votes of the backward class, by saying that their leader has been humiliated. This will also help to undercut the influence of Jitan Ram Manjhi, whom BJP is trying to project as the messiah of the Mahadalits. More importantly, by making the issue a matter of Bihari prestige, Nitish is hoping that the focus of the electorates shift from the fact that he has made truce with Lalu Prasad Yadav, a person of questionable credentials, widely touted to have given a period of indifferent rule to the state. Nitish wants to play the underdog card, a hardworking socialite working for 40 years slighted by the babus of Delhi.

In a way, this also reveals a deep-seated insecurity in the Bihar CM. During the Lok Sabha election, he was sure that the people of Bihar would give him the mandate for his efforts in changing the face of the state. But Modi’s realpolitik stumped him. After the Manjhi fiasco, Nitish got back in the game by breaking bread with his old foe. This is the second phase of that process, where he hopes to seal the deal in his favour.

It is perhaps a bit sad that a record of bringing about development in the state is not enough to win the election. One needs spin doctors and PR experts to swing the narrative. Only time will tell if Nitish Kumar has managed to outwit NDA by hyping up the DNA statement.