Patna: On September 29, a youngster, Rajnish Kumar, wrote to Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Twitter requesting help for his ailing father, who was struggling to get a bed at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna.The youngster tagged Tejashwi (who holds the health portfolio), Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and other government officials. Within minutes after his tweet went out, Tejashwi himself swung into action, and Rajnish’s father got a bed and doctors attended to him. The youngster thanked the minister and appreciated his swift action.Kindly send attendant’s contact number. will do the needful.Thanks https://t.co/2aYmBe486L— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) September 29, 2022It’s urgentमुझे इंदिरा गांधी हॉस्पिटल पटना में एक बेड चाहिए। मेरे पापा की तबियत ज्यादा खराब है। उन्हें लंग्स में इन्फेक्शन हो गया है और वो सीरियस हैं। कृपया मेरी मदद करें@BiharHealthDept @officecmbihar @bihargov @yadavtejashwi @TejYadav14 @jayantjigyasu @apradhan1968 @SHSBihar— Rajnish kumar (@rajnish_iimc) September 29, 2022Although doctors attended to Rajnish’s father, he passed away from to a severe lung infection.At midnight of September 7, Tejaswhi paid a surprise visit to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH). He discovered a body lying in a corridor, patients lying unattended and doctors on the duty missing at the hospital. The following morning, he chaired a high-level meeting with health department officials to probe into problems afflicting hospitals in the state and to suggest corrective measures.In the nearly two months that he has been in office, Bihar’s deputy chief minister appears set to make good on his promise of kamai, dawai, karrvayee, padhai, sichayee (employment, medicine, action, education, irrigation)”.Also read: Rural Bihar in Grip of COVID-19, but Official Data Belies Ground RealityInsiders say that chief minister Nitish Kumar had been unhappy with Tejashwi’s predecessor Mangal Pandey of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Pandey was not a popular figure and faced criticism for his alleged mishandling of health crises. He is also known to have enjoyed the good faith of Union home minister Amit Shah and top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries.The idea that Tejashwi has a lot of ground to cover in the department has been felt for a while, and so far, the man who was the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s star campaigner until recently seems to be making an attempt at it.Tejashwi’s journeyThe RJD drew a blank in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, raising questions over the survival of the party and Tejashwi as its leader. By then, the party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had already spent two years in jail, and the party leadership had lost all hope of securing bail for Lalu in the corruption case. With the BJP-led NDA winning 39 out of 40 seats in the Lok Sabha, poll pundits from the state had written off Tejashwi. They predicted smooth sailing for the BJP in the 2020 assembly elections.However, things have changed drastically for the RJD, with Tejashwi taking the BJP head-on.Tejashwi Yadav on the campaign trail. Photo: Twitter/@yadavtejashwiOn October 17, 2020 – the 10th day of Dussehra – he set off on a campaign to the hinterlands of the state after offering prayers to Goddess Durga at his home in Patna. At the multiple election rallies he held that day, Tejashwi Yadav, for the first time, promised 10 lakh jobs, drawing boisterous cheers from the youth. Within a week hence, Tejashwi had turned the real issues of unemployment and lack of livelihood opportunities into the biggest poll issues to take on the BJP. He had also shown non-BJP parties in the other states how to counter the BJP, which rakes up communal issues.As he emerged crowd puller at rallies, BJP and the prime minister trained their guns directly at Tejashwi, “warning” the people against the return of “jungle raj”.His campaign weighed down the BJP, as the RJD emerged as the single largest party – missing the opportunity to take power by a few yards.Also read: NDA May Have Retained Bihar, But Tejashwi Yadav Is the New Star of Indian PoliticsAfter the recent turn of political events, Tejashwi has come to share power with Nitish Kumar.Complementing Tejashwi, Nitish during his Independence Day address announced 10 lakh jobs to the youth of Bihar, and said efforts would be made from his government’s end to surpass the 20-lakh mark in the years to come.The Bihar Cabinet on September 27 approved the creation of 7,823 posts in the revenue department to be filled up soon for the roles of surveyors, engineers, clerks, among others. It had finalised thousands of posts in other departments. The chief minister and his deputy gave 283 and 194 appointment letters to veterinary doctors and for positions in the fisheries department respectively at an official function held on September 27 and 28. Appointment orders were also issued to junior engineers in various government sectors on the same day.Although the state has a long way to go in solving its unemployment issues, this is a start.Also read: The Rise of Tejashwi Yadav Signals Significant Change in Bihar PoliticsBJPWith the formation of the Mahagathbandhan government about one and half months ago, Bihar has become a battleground between the BJP’s divisive agenda and the Nitish-Tejashwi government that has been trying to confront the real issues that matter to the people.The recent visit of Union home minister Amit Shah to Bihar’s Purnea and Kishanganj on September 23-24 has once again demonstrated how the BJP wants to steer the political discourse in the state. Both Union ministers and several BJP leaders of the state in the wake of Shah’s visit to Bihar once again tried to control the political narrative by raking up bogeys like “infiltration of Bangladeshis,” and the “alarming rise of the population of Muslims.”However, the duo of Nitish and Tejashwi appears to have kept themselves busy with the governance, largely ignoring the communal muddle which the BJP had tried to pull them into.Also Read | Fact Check: Do BJP’s Claims About Population Growth in Two Bihar Districts Hold Up?Soon after the formation of the Mahagathbandhan government, BJP leaders had attacked Kumar for accompanying a Muslim minister to a temple at Gaya. Now, state BJP leaders are lauding the Narendra Modi government’s ban of PFI to “save India from extremism”.Though the RJD leader Lalu Prasad – known for his staunch criticism and consistent attack on the RSS-BJP – demanded a ban on the RSS too while describing it as “worse than the PFI”, Nitish ignored it when the reporters asked about it and dwelt at length on how he was working to build the unity of the opposition parties across the country.Tejaswhi Yadav appears to be in sync with Kumar, be it on the issue of governance or opposition unity.Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar. Illustration: The WireAs for the media channels in the state, a lot of airtime is being devoted to alleged discord between RJD and JD(U). They have tried to play up the alleged differences between the alliance partners by trying to distort statements made by the second- and third-rung leaders of both parties. The media has either ignored or relegated issues of unemployment, healthcare, and the ongoing drought, among other issues of public concern to the background.When asked about the longevity of the Mahagathbandhan, RJD’s national spokesman and MP Manoj Jha, said, “Our leaders – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Tejaswhi Yadav – are more concerned about the longevity and survival of democracy and constitution rather than of their own parties and political career. The Mahagathbandhan is focussed on the opposition’s unity to drive the BJP out from power in 2024 and offer Bihar as a model of inclusivity, opposition’s unity and growth with justice.”It appears, as Jha implies, that the RJD and JD(U) have learnt a great deal from their bitter experience of parting ways five years ago. When reporters had asked him why he had come back to Mahagathbandhan again last month, Nitish had said, “Going back to the BJP was a mistake. Forget about it.”At least for now, it appears the unity of the RJD and JD(U) in face of the BJP’s allegations and arm-twisting is going from strength to strength. There is no hint that Nitish, Tejashwi and Lalu will break apart what they have brought together to give Modi and the BJP a run for their money in the 2024 General Elections.Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author and professor of journalism and mass communication at Invertis University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.This article, first published at 9.55 pm on October 3, 2022, is being republished at 8.30 am on October 4, 2022, with further details.
