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Temple for Sita, votes for Nitish? Hindu religious turn in Bihar politics as JD(U) fends off BJP

JD(U), fearing its core voters are shifting to BJP, has demanded a Sita temple in Sitamarhi and hailed Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s 'Har Ghar Gangajal' project as a ‘Bhagirathi’ effort.

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Patna: Bihar’s ‘secular’ politics has taken an unusual turn, with the mingling of religion and politics visibly seeping into the state’s discourse, one Hindu tradition reference at a time. To one’s surprise, it is not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has spurred this change, but the ruling Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) combine.

With the Kurhani assembly bypoll slated for 5 December, the idea of their core voters moving to the BJP is looming large in the minds of JD(U) leaders, sources told ThePrint.

On 22 November, state power minister and senior JD(U) leader Bijendra Prasad Yadav turned many heads when he urged the Centre to build a temple for goddess Sita in Sitamarhi. It should have all facilities one would find at the Ram temple under construction in Ayodhya, he said. Though the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is yet to verify such claims, many in Bihar’s Sitamarhi believe that the goddess Sita was born there.

Days after Yadav’s demand made headlines, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the Ganga Jal Apurti Yojana — an ambitious project to supply Ganga water to Rajgir (in Nalanda), Gaya and Nawada through a 151-km-long pipeline — in Rajgir on 27 November. 

During the launch event, many JD(U) leaders and state ministers compared Nitish Kumar with the sage Bhagiratha, who, according to Hindu mythology, brought the sacred river Ganga down from heaven to Earth.

The chief minister, in his own speech, opened a whole new front against the BJP by accusing the ASI — a central government agency — of overlooking the development of the Jarasandha ka Akhara in Nalanda despite repeated requests from the state government in this regard. According to the Hindu epic Mahabharatha, King Jarasandha of the Magadha empire was killed in a fight with Bhim who was under the guidance of lord Krishna.

When the project was inaugurated in Gaya on 28 November, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav even praised the chief minister for “freeing the river Saryu from the curse of Sita”. Water of the river Ganga will now be available in the river around the year, he added.

Scriptures suggest that the river was devoid of water for many years because it was cursed by the goddess Sita.


Also Read: Paperless Saharsa is Bihar’s new showcase district. It’s snipping the Great Indian Red Tape


JD(U)-BJP & shifting core vote

This newfound usage of religion and mythology in political discourse by parties advocating social justice seems to have unnerved BJP leaders who believe that the JD(U) and RJD are trying to ‘dilute’ BJP’s narrative by invoking religion and mythology in public meetings.

“The availability of Gangajal in other districts is welcome. But Gangajal is given when a person is dying. The Nitish government is dying and it has failed to provide safe drinking water to the masses,” said BJP’s Vijay Sinha, leader of the opposition in the Bihar.

BJP MLA ​​Haribhushan Thakur Bachol, adding that references to gods and goddesses will do little to “help Nitish Kumar”, told ThePrint: “People still remember how he (Nitish) took a Muslim minister inside the Vishnupad temple in Gaya and how he practically allowed Shariat law in Muslim-dominated districts in Seemanchal by allowing government schools to close on Fridays.”

The JD(U), on the other hand, denies that it is using religion for political gains. “The demand for a temple of mother Sita has to do with gender equality. It is an aspect left out by the BJP. The CM’s role in providing Ganga water to citizens of Gaya and Rajgir is actually a Bhagirathi effort,” said JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan.

Ranjan went further to add, “River-linking to avoid floods has been talked about for so long, but Nitish Kumar has done it. Talks of mythology and religion are just a byproduct of these efforts.”

But what may have prompted this shift in Bihar’s political discourse is a fear the JD(U) evades from admitting publicly, that of its core voters shifting to the BJP.

Nitish Kumar’s core base consists of Kurmis, Koeris (OBCs) and a section of EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes). The only time the JD(U) chief decided to go alone was in 2014 when his party got a drubbing, winning only two of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and collecting 15 per cent of the total votes polled.

Cut to 2022 and the outcome of two assembly bye-elections, Mokama and Gopalganj, has thrown up a burning question. While both the RJD and BJP technically retained their seats with reduced margins, many in Bihar’s political circles are asking about what happened to Nitish’s dedicated votes if BJP was able to reduce the RJD’s margin of victory in Mokama and still managed to win Gopalganj without Nitish’s endorsement.

Sources within the JD(U) told ThePrint there is a chance that the party’s core voters may be shifting gradually to the BJP. “That is why Bhagiratha, Sita and Jarasandha are mentioned frequently,” conceded a JD(U) MLA who did not wish to be named.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)


Also Read: As parties across states woo voters with lure of free power, Nitish gives it a thumbs down


 

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