Gopalganj (Bihar): By-elections to two assembly seats in Bihar will take place on November 3. The results will come out on November 6.Out of Mokama and Gopalganj, all eyes on the latter. This is because Gopalganj, bordering the Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh, is the birthplace of Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad.The RJD has fielded local businessman and old party cadre Mohan Prasad Gupta against the BJP’s Kusum Devi, who is the widow of Subhas Singh, BJP’s MLA from Gopalganj since November 2005. Singh’s death has necessitated the by-poll here. Lalu’s sister-in-law Indira Devi and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Aslam Parvej too are in the fray.But in a sentence that might seem incredible to non-locals, this by-election battle is one that has pitched Lalu’s son and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s most enduring election symbol and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.This author travelled to towns, bazaars and villages across Gopalganj, Uchka Gaon and Thave, which are all part of the Gopalganj assembly constituency, to understand this phenomenon.Tejashwi Yadav at a rally in Gopalganj. Photo: Nalin Verma.At Gopalganj, 32-year-old journalist Sanjay Kumar Abhay said the contrast between Tejashwi and Modi is plain to see. “Tejaswhi talks about employment, health, price rise and governance. But whenever we open the TV, we find Modi doing puja in one temple or another. He [Modi] doesn’t do the work he has been elected for. Tejaswhi talks about the issues that concern the people,” Abhay said.Not all, however, share Abhay’s beliefs. Modi’s much publicised and photographed sojourns to Kedarnath, Ujjain Mahakal Lok corridor and Ayodhya have takers– primarily among caste Hindus who are impressed by the BJP’s claim that Modi has gone further than any of his predecessors since Independence in taking care of Hindu shrines and temples.But for youths in Gopalganj who had been hugely attracted to Modi from 2014 onwards, something has shifted. “Tejaswhi is young and he has a bright future. He talks about jobs, health and livelihood. Moreover, Tejaswhi talks about peace, harmony and unity in society. That is very important,” said Awadhesh Kumar, a young local journalist.Also read: Nitish-Tejashwi Government Focuses on Less Politics and More AdministrationTejashwi, along with the Janata Dal (United)’s national president Lallan Singh and other leaders of the alliance of seven parties that now forms the government, addressed a large election meeting at Gopalganj on Friday, October 28.Tejashwi Yadav at a rally in Gopalganj. Photo: Nalin Verma.But in a by-election for an assembly constituency, why should the people draw a parallel between the state’s deputy chief minister and the prime minister?Sixty-two-year-old Ramesh Giri, a social activist who works in the Gopalganj and Siwan regions said that the main reason for this is that Tejashwi himself has been unrelenting in hitting out at the prime minister. “Tejashwi straightway targets Modi and the central BJP leadership’s policies. In speeches, he highlights his government’s role in giving jobs, maintaining health facilities and responding to people’s complaints quickly. Like his father, Tejashwi doesn’t fear the loss of Hindu votes and attacks BJP for its communal politics. He also speaks openly in favour of minorities,” Giri said.Tejashwi represents Modi as the centre of BJP’s anti-minority rhetoric, Giri noted. “He doesn’t take the names of second rung or third rung or even Bihar BJP leaders,” he observed.The most discernible difference between the elections in 2020 and earlier and the by-election is how Tejashwi is regarded by voters. Till the 2020 assembly polls, it was common for voters to say that they would “vote for Lalu” – even though Lalu was in jail then.Votes for Tejashwi would be considered votes for Lalu. Now, it appears, Tejashwi is a leader in his own right.Keeping the larger perspective and long term politics in mind, the emergence of Tejashwi as a youth icon and voters considering this a ‘Tejaswi versus Modi’ battle are not good signs for BJP. Gopalganj shares a border with eastern Uttar Pradesh that has Ayodhya and Varanasi, both epicentres of Modi-led BJP’s power. Uttar Pradesh residents travel often, if not daily, to Barkagaon, Kuchaikot, Meerganja and Thave’s markets and villages. The result of bypolls at Gopalganj are bound to be felt in eastern Uttar Pradesh.Challenges for TejashwiLocals disagree that the popularity wave will make it a smooth sailing for Tejashwi. A student says that he must work to open the Agriculture College at Gopalganj. “Uttar Pradesh has more and better agriculture-related institutes and colleges. Thus most workers in this sector are from UP,” said the student, who studies at a local college.A similar argument comes forth on judicial officers in the lower courts of Gopalganj, Siwan and other Bihar districts as well. Locals say most of them belong to Uttar Pradesh “which has better law colleges.”A Gopalganj-based teacher told this author that the government must carry out a study to identify issues of people on the basis of the place they are living in.PM Narendra Modi at a 2015 rally in Gopalganj. Photo: Twitter/@ANIRSS-BJP’s attention to micro-managementWhen it comes to attention to detail, few can beat the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP’s machinary.Over 40 BJP MLAs and MPs including two Union government ministers and 14 former Bihar ministers are camping in Gopalganj, and travelling from door to door in areas systematically allotted to them on the basis of their caste groups as part of the BJP’s campaign.The RJD’s nominee belongs to a community that traditionally votes for the BJP.Fearing a shift of its vote, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal and former deputy CM Tarkeshwar Prasad, both belonging to the business community, have been canvassing for their candidate.Rajesh Tripathi, an RSS volunteer based at his organisation’s headquarters of Nagpur and belonging to Uttar Pradesh, is learned to have called on the local office of Prabhat Khabar, a Hindi daily, and befriended its journalists.Many senior RSS functionaries have descended upon Gopalganj. Some are overseeing and monitoring the activities of workers. “The RSS doesn’t have just booth-level workers. They have separate people in charge of every page of an electoral roll of a booth,” said a local journalist.“The BJP pay Rs 3000 to in-charges in such roles. Their job includes giving the voter’s slip to each voter under their jurisdiction and bringing them to the polling booths,” the journalist claimed.Even workers of the alliance parties feel that the RSS-BJP are “more systematic” and “better organised” than them.Irrespective of the result, the unique public perception at play for this by-election is one for poll-watchers to note. Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author and professor of journalism and mass communication at Invertis University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
