Bihar election: Why campaigning by Congress’s top brass is crucial this time for Mahagathbandhan

The JD(U)-BJP alliance has pulled out all the stops to fight two decades of anti-incumbency and retain power in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. On the other hand, it is the most crucial election for the Mahagathbandhan, as a loss here could create resentment and scatter the RJD-Congress cadres. To be a stronger political force, the alliance has to show its expansive presence and campaign thoroughly wherever it can to defeat the BJP’s election machinery.

The BJP-led NDA is known for micro-management and political shrewdness – for instance, it backs rebels in constituencies where their candidates do not get tickets and upset calculations by contesting them as independent candidates. Moreover, the alliance is also adept at marking out winnable constituencies and making all the necessary arrangements to secure victory—especially in those that require extra effort—and then deploying its foot soldiers to consolidate on the ground.

A Congress leader said, “The Congress party and RJD may not have been that adept at micro-management, but we have made extra effort this time to manage all the affairs on time. The seat sharing did not end up the way we wanted, because the Congress too did not back off. We were firm on our rightful share. But now, everything between the alliance partners is going smoothly. The star campaigners will create the actual momentum before the elections, and we are certain that the resentment among people will allow us to gather more audience and subsequently motivate people to vote for the Mahagathbandhan this time.”

Congress’s ace campaigner Rahul Gandhi has made a much-anticipated return to Bihar following his Voter Adhikar Yatra. He will conduct about 12 rallies before the first phase of elections, including crucial joint rallies with alliance partner Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, highlighting the Mahagathbandhan's unity.

There have been several claims by the NDA that the duo are at odds with each other after seat-sharing tensions. But, on the very first day of his rally, Rahul Gandhi participated in another joint rally in Darbhanga for an RJD candidate as a mark of unity within the alliance and to reinforce the message of well-coordinated functioning between the Congress and the RJD.

Moreover, the grand old party has released the list of 40 star campaigners for the elections, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Kanhaiya Kumar. Priyanka, the Congress General Secretary, will start her campaign in the challenging assembly constituency of Bachhwara in Begusarai, where Bihar Youth Congress president Garib Das also faces off against the friendly partner CPI apart from the NDA candidate.

The party is planning to deploy its star campaigners in constituencies wherever strategists believe the electoral battle will be closely contested and a small push from the leadership could help sail their ship through to victory on those seats. A political analyst said, “How do the star campaigners help win elections? The star leaders mostly go to places where they have some sort of popularity, and the electorate has some living memory of such leaders. They tend to create stronger impressions about their party or alliance. Their presence reinforces the overall message.

“There is also another factor that helps through campaigning—by conducting rallies that dominate the scene, more floating voters tend to vote for that particular party.”

Notably, the difference in vote percentage between the Mahagathbandhan and the NDA in 2020 was not much, and the overall tally of votes of the NDA was just a few thousand as compared to the Mahagathbandhan. Also, there has been a recalibration in the equation of partnerships as the VIP has switched to the Mahagathbandhan and another LJP faction has joined the ruling bloc which might upset the overall assessment on both sides.