- At a meeting chaired by Amit Shah, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) discussed a campaign narrative built around women’s empowerment, “dark days” under RJD, “corruption of Congress,” and the NDA’s development agenda.
- Leaders said focus will also be on countering the Opposition’s “confusing narrative,” clarifying provisions of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bihar core committee met in Delhi on Wednesday to outline the framework for its campaign in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Themes such as ‘maiya’ or mother — tied to the party’s messaging on women’s empowerment — clarification of Constitutional provisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, highlighting the “dark days” of Rashtriya Janata Dal rule, exposing the “overall corruption of the Congress,” and promoting the NDA government’s development agenda will shape the campaign, The Indian Express reported.
The meeting, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence, was attended by BJP president and Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda, Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde, co-incharge Deepak Prakash, and senior state leaders including Deputy Chief Ministers Vijay Sinha and Samrat Choudhary.
“This was a preliminary meeting where the focus was on the assessment of the ground especially after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress’s Vote Adhikar Yatra, apart from creating a broad outline for the election campaign. We have chalked out poll-related programmes till November 20,” a senior leader present at the meeting told The Indian Express.
“From the issue related to the abuses showered on the Honourable Prime Minister’s mother to the condition of the women under RJD’s dark rule, there is likely to be a very significant focus on the honour and dignity of every ‘maiya’ on the soil of Janaki (Sita) Maiya; we will also hit the ground to dispel misinformation around the SIR through an outreach over the actual provisions of the Constitution,” the leader added.
Party sources noted that the traction gained by Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Adhikar Yatra was also a major discussion point. The BJP’s outreach, they said, will highlight both “the corruption of the Lalu (Prasad) era” and the “corruption which uprooted the Congress from power.”
More consultations are expected in the coming days, including with NDA partners, likely when alliance MPs gather in Delhi for the September 9 Vice-Presidential election.
BJP Bihar president Dilip Jaiswal said the meeting also discussed joint NDA camps across all 243 Assembly constituencies and countering the “confusing narrative” pushed by the Opposition. “Appreciating the NDA karyakarta sammelan, the national leadership directed to convene similar events at the Assembly level by September 25 in consultation with all the leaders concerned,” he said. Jaiswal clarified that the decision on seat-sharing would be taken by the NDA’s national leadership. “It has also been decided to form a chunav abhiyan samiti comprising senior leaders to set the ball rolling… a Chunav Samiti will assess potential candidates and send the names to the national leadership,” he added.
The meeting comes in the wake of Bihar bandh in protest against alleged abuse hurled at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother during the Congress' "Voter Adhikar Yatra".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reacting publicly for the first time on September 2, addressed the controversy during the launch of the Jeevika Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation in New Delhi. He also transferred ₹105 crore into the institution’s bank account as part of the event.
“What happened in Bihar a few days ago, I hadn’t even imagined it. From the RJD-Congress platform in Bihar, my mother was abused. These abuses are not just an insult to my mother, it is an insult to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country,” Modi said.
Attacking the RJD and Congress, he added, “I want to say to those who abuse the mother in front of the people of Bihar that Modi might forgive you once but the land of India has never tolerated the insult to the mother.”
Modi said the incident had caused him and the people of Bihar deep anguish: “I know how bad it must have felt for all of you to see and hear this. I know that the pain in my heart from this is matched by the distress felt by the people of my Bihar. Therefore, today, as I am having darshan of lakhs of mothers and sisters from Bihar in such large numbers, today my heart and I are sharing my sorrow with you. So with your mothers and sisters’ blessings, I may be able to endure it,” The Hindu quoted.
The Prime Minister further alleged that parties like the RJD opposed women’s progress and had resisted women’s reservation. He accused the RJD government of shielding “murderers and rapists” and claimed that during its rule, “crime and criminals were rampant in Bihar and murder, extortion, and rape were common.”
He asserted that Bihar had emerged from this “darkness” after a long struggle, with women playing a vital role in defeating the RJD. “Whether it is RJD or Congress, these people are most bewildered towards all women. These people want to take revenge for sending them out of power and they are looking for an opportunity so that they can punish women,” The Hindu quoted him saying.
Modi also accused the Congress of being unable to accept backward and extremely backward communities advancing in politics.
“The mentality that abuses mothers, the mentality that abuses sisters, considers women weak. This mindset treats women as objects of exploitation and oppression. Therefore, whenever an anti-woman mentality has come to power, mothers-sisters-daughters have had to endure the most suffering,” he said.
Without directly naming Gandhi or Yadav, Modi said that “young princes born into royal families” could not understand the penance of a poor mother and the suffering of her son.
“These honourable people were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. The power of the country and Bihar seems like an inheritance of their family to them. They think that the chair should only be theirs. But the people of the country gave a blessing to a poor mother’s working son and made him the Prime Servant. This fact is not going well with the name-bearers,” Modi said, according to The Hindu.
He emphasised the role of mothers: “A mother toils to provide education and upbringing to her children, instilling high values in them. That is why the place of a mother is considered even above gods and goddesses.”
“You all know that my mother’s body is no longer in this world. Some time ago, after completing 100 years of age, she left us all. My mother, who had nothing to do with politics, whose body is no longer here. My mother was subjected to vile abuses from the RJD-Congress platform. This is deeply saddening, painful, and distressing. What was the fault of that mother that she was made to hear such vile abuses,” The Hindu quoted Modi.
He urged women in Bihar to hold the Opposition accountable: “The dignity of the mother, her honour, her self-respect is a very high priority for our government. The mother is our world; the mother is our pride. I have worked tirelessly every day, every moment for my country and my mother has played a very big role. I had to serve Mother India, so the mother who gave birth to me freed me from my duties.”