Bihar leaders take 'yatra' route to woo public

Even though Assembly polls in Bihar are still a few months away, different political parties have gone into election mode with prominent politicians deciding to hit the road to drum up public support.

With the Assembly elections slated in the second half of 2020, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has just finished his 'Jal Jeevan Hariyali Yatra', which was supposedly aimed at creating public awareness on environment, but actually turned into a political 'yatra' to consolidate his contact with the masses.

The Janata Dal-United leader did not forget to tell the people during the 'yatra' about the schemes his government had formulated for them.

After Nitish, it is now the turn of his arch rival Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav, who will undertake a 'Berozgari Yatra' (unemployment roadshow) from February 23. This is seen as the launch of RJD campaign for the elections, with Tejashwi aiming to woo the youth to corner the Nitish Kumar government on rising unemployment.

A hi-tech Volvo bus has been hired for the yatra for Tejashwi, who will address people along the yatra route for mass contact.

Lok Janshakti Party President Chirag Paswan, who recently took over from his Union Minister father Ram Vilas Paswan, is also not lying low.

Chirag will will start his own 'Bihar First, Bihari First' roadshow from February 21. He will visit every district in the state to garner public support, focusing more on the state's problems. After its poor show in the Delhi Assembly elections, LJP is facing a stiff challenge to maintain its base in Bihar. The yatra is a part of the effort in this regard, a party leader said.

Meanwhile, former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Kanhaiya Kumar is also currently undertaking a 'yatra' in Bihar, drumming up support against the Citizenship (Amendment0 Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, drawing huge crowds at his public rallies. Kanhaiya is obviously trying to recover the ground communists have lost in some pockets of Bihar.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, sacked from the JD-U in January 2020, will launch his 'Baat Bihar ki' campaign from February 20. Though he did not disclose which political outfit he will work for, but his campaign is likely to reach out to people who believe there is space for new leadership in Bihar.

With so many leaders hitting the road in Bihar, it remains to be seen what political advantages and benefits they reap in the Assembly elections. -IANS