Bihar election: NDA seeks to repeat 2020 performance in Darbanga
The ruling NDA is hoping to repeat its performance, banking on projects like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the new Darbhanga airport terminal
In 2020, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagged nine out of the 10 assembly seats in Darbanga as it returned to power in Bihar. Five years later, the ruling bloc is hoping to repeat its performance, banking on projects like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the new Darbhanga airport terminal, flood management projects, proposed metro, and pre-election announcements for women.
The NDA and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led opposition are again in direct fight on most seats, despite the presence of the Jan Suraj Party (JSP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and some rebels.
Uma Shankar Thakur, who works from home in Darbanga’s Benipur for a Pune-based IT firm, said the five kg ration, ₹1,100 pension, ₹10,000 to women, and NDA’s promise of ₹3,000 increase in Kisan Samman Yojana will have a considerable impact. “RJD’s ‘Mai Bahin Yojana’ also has resonance but not beyond their respective areas of strength.”
Thakur echoed concerns about a lack of employment opportunities. “I feel sorry that Darbhanga has not been able to benefit from the growing IT sector to create employment like other states...,” said Thakur.
Bipin Kumar Jha, who studies in Bhopal, rued a lack of political vision. He said Bihar’s institutions have deteriorated, and without knowledge and skills, the job market will remain elusive for those who just have degrees. “Those who have the skills and knowledge work anywhere, but Bihar leaders have never had the vision.” Jha said elections are won on equations, and that way, NDA again seems to have the edge. “Here, politics has no meaning beyond winning elections,” he said.
Former LN Mithila University vice chancellor SM Jha said that the contest in Darbhanga is mainly between the NDA and the RJD-led opposition. “But the emergence of players like JSP and AIMIM and some key rebel candidates would keep the bigger players on their toes. In assembly elections, every drifting vote matters and has the potential to alter the results,” he said.
In Alinagar, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded folk singer Maithili Thakur, who initially faced resistance from within the party before the party leadership threw its weight behind her. RJD has again fielded Binod Mishra, who is trying to make the contest an insider versus outsider. JSP’s Biplav Choudhary has made it an all-Brahmin contest even as the seat was once the bastion of RJD’s Abdul Bari Siddiqui due to the presence of a significant population of Muslims, Yadavs, and Paswan.
In Jale, RJD’s Rishi Mishra got the Congress ticket on the last day of nomination to face BJP minister Jivesh Kumar. In 2020, Kumar defeated Congress’s Maskoor Ahmad Osmani. Osmani, a doctor and former Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union president, is again in the fray as an independent after being expelled from the Congress. AIMIM’s Faisal Rehman claims to be in a direct fight with the BJP.
