A day after Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy joined the Opposition’s vote adhikar yatra in Bihar, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, accompanied by his sister and DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, also participated in the political campaign. In fact, he delivered a speech in Tamil in Muzaffarpur, which was translated into Hindi for the local audience.
Stalin attacked the Election Commission and the BJP for undermining the democratic process during the revision of the electoral rolls. His announcement that he had travelled over “2,000 kilometres to be with the people of Bihar,” when translated into Hindi, was met with huge cheer.
With each line replete with political references, Stalin hailed the camaraderie between Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav as he recalled the importance of Bihar in influencing the polity of the country.
The picture of Stalin, with Rahul, Tejashwi, and allies—CPIML’s General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, VIP party chief Mukesh Sahani, and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the background atop an open jeep—was replete with deep political symbolism.
But what have Reddy and Stalin got to do with the Bihar polls?
The entry of southern political leaders—the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Telangana—serves two key purposes. The first is political symbolism and a larger national message: the Opposition is united behind Rahul Gandhi, who has been relentless in his attack on the government on the issue of the voters’ list. While the jury is still out on whether the issue will have steam left until polling day, as new issues and campaign themes may crop up, their entry into the Hindi heartland state and presence alongside Rahul Gandhi is an act of solidarity, which will always be hailed if the results are in their favour. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav will also join the yatra.
It is the first time since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls that Opposition leaders are uniting. The upcoming Vice-Presidential election has strengthened these unity moves, as the candidate, B. Sudhershan Reddy, not only represents the INDIA bloc but the larger united Opposition.
The second one is electoral. Though there may hardly be any Tamil- or Telugu-speaking population in Bihar who are voters, there are several lakhs of Bihari migrants employed in the industrial estates of Tamil Nadu and Telangana. It is believed that when these CMs visit Bihar, they also send a message to Bihari migrants working in their states, who may not only be voters but also have the power to influence their family members back home, as they are the breadwinners.
This also takes a leaf from the BJP’s playbook, as it too aggressively wooed Bihari migrants before state polls through leaders who engaged with them in their respective states. In fact, the BJP had appointed Devendra Fadnavis as its poll in-charge in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls. At that time, Fadnavis had already served a five-year term as Maharashtra CM.
The Bihari workers have the capacity to influence voting in Bihar. When Tamil Nadu goes to polls next year, some of the Bihari migrants who may be settled there and are voters could then be favourably inclined towards the DMK, goes the argument.
The Opposition has learnt another lesson from the BJP. Earlier, the party used to take its chief ministers from states like Gujarat and Maharashtra to hard-sell them as model states, which helped market the dream of development. As the Opposition is in power in Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, they may be marketing them along similar lines.
It is not that Bihar has not accepted outsiders. The prime example is George Fernandes, who served as Lok Sabha MP from Muzaffarpur for five terms, and three terms from Nalanda. He was born in Mangaluru and was a Christian who made his name as a trade unionist, a socialist and finally even as defence minister. Though he could speak in Hindi, he was accepted in caste-ridden Bihar, which was also the home ground where the socialist movement prospered.
It will not be an easy run for the southern leaders, though. The BJP was quick to remind the electorate of past statements made by Stalin’s son on Sanatana Dharma, and Reddy’s statement on Bihari DNA. The party argued that the Opposition had humiliated the Biharis by bringing these two leaders here.
The Bihar election scene is just warming up. Much more in the way of twists and turns may be in store.