BJP's 'embedded tours' create scare in JD(U)-RJD camp

As part of its novel poll strategy to combat caste calculations and the grand secular alliance of Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress in the upcoming Bihar elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party is arranging tours of hordes of villagers, mostly from remote and deprived regions to the BJP-ruled states.

The aim is to showcase the development in these states in order to mobilise the visiting villagers who, in turn, will relate these success stories in their hamlets by word of month to shore up NDA's fortunes.

Around 5,000 of them are currently on excursion to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra to have a taste of 'vikas' (development) in these BJP-ruled states.

A group of villages from remote Pali area of Dharbhanga district has just returned from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, where they were showcased benefit of organic farming of wheat, fenugreek, chickpeas and isabgol. Laxmi Narayan, sarpanch of Ghanshyampur village, was visibly impressed while narrating farming of olive oil near Jaipur with the help of Israeli technology, a pet project of chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Another group of villagers from Araria district on their way back to Patna via Delhi had visited south Gujarat, where they were told that since Narendra Modi's takeover as chief minister in 2001, the agriculture growth in the western state, despite scanty water resources, has increased to 11 % against the national growth of mere 2.5%. They were told that with abundant water resources, Bihar can take a lead in agriculture with the help of the Prime Minister, provided his party wins the crucial assembly election. Pomegranate farms in south Gujarat have fascinated Pradip Kumar Yadav, a small-time farmer in Amauna village in Araria district. "With an investment of Rs 70,000 per acre, we were told that farmers are getting at least Rs 2.5 lakh," he said.

This novel mode of campaigning has created panic in the opposition camp. Leaders of the grand secular alliance allege that these poor and mostly illiterate farmers are shown government nurseries, made to walk on garden path like embedded journalists. Congress general secretary C P Joshi, Janata Dal (United) general secretary K C Tyagi and party leader Pavan Varma, RJD's Manoj Jha and Rajya Sabha MP and advocate KPS Tulsi have submitted a two-page memorandum to the Election Commission, complaining that such tours undertaken at the time of elections are illegal and unethical. They are also livid that Railways has given 60% concession to carry these villagers to these BJP-ruled states.

Alleging that many of these trains, except one to Raipur, had left Patna, when the model code of conduct came into force on September 9, the alliance leaders urged the chief election commissioner to take appropriate action, cancel the return journey of these villagers, recovering the concession of 60% given for these special trains and order an inquiry into the whole affair. The last of these trains left Patna for Jaipur on September 13.

They asserted that these trains were plying with the financial and administrative support of the Railways in a blatant collusion of the BJP and the Central government while the state governments concerned were allegedly bearing the cost of hotels, food and tour within the respective states under the programme "Chalo vikas dikha ke layein" (let us show them development).

Tulsi said this was not only blatant misuse of the government machinery to take the BJP workers on free excursions but also amounted to buying the voters which is a crime under the election laws. He said the application for reservation was signed by a senior functionary of the RSS and the railway concession was extended on the directions of the railway minister.