If the BJP-led NDA has Narendra Modi, the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is anchored by Lalu Yadav in the state. AdvertisingInside the RJD office, Jitendra Kumar Rai, MLA from Marhaura, holds court: “Those who chant ‘Modi, Modi’ are paid while we have our people who are motivated and speak the local language. Today, Lalu’s politics of social justice must compete with the vaulting Modi message and machine and also with longtime rival in the state, and now Modi’s ally, Nitish Kumar. The Lalu message itself counts heavily on his past achievements apart from anti-incumbency against the Modi-Nitish regime — it shows no signs of having been re-imagined or updated. The Modi message fumbles visibly among the Scheduled Castes still fighting basic fights for land and water who also bear the brunt of the economic distress.

Source: Indian Express May 01, 2019 20:15 UTC