THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
Is Prashant Kishor the Kejriwal of Bihar? There are some similarities between the two—both are lone rangers who have taken on the established political system. Both know well how to play the media. Both have questioned the traditional way of doing politics, and while Kejriwal had an enviable start, he is currently not doing too well having lost his bastion of Delhi. Prashant Kishor—or PK as he is known—is currently contesting his first election and has created quite a buzz. Plus, this is a comparison that neither wants, hence it gives that extra edge to the TV debates. However, when asked this question, Dilip Cherian, brand guru and crafter of the perfect soundbite, quipped, “I don’t know if he is the Kejriwal candidate or the Manchurian candidate!” For the uninitiated, “The Manchurian Candidate” is a book (that was later made into a movie) about an American prisoner of war who is brainwashed to become an assassin by the communists. Well, given that there is a great deal of speculation as to whose vote-bank PK will torpedo, for he will be playing the role of a spoiler as he tries to woo the votes away from the NDA and the MGB, the Manchurian comparison adds that extra spice. And trust Cherian to bring along the spice box.
THE BIHAR IPL
The high stakes Bihar election is now entering its final lap. While the Mahagathbandan (MGB) has an edge in that it has unequivocally stated that Tejashwi Yadav will be its CM face, the NDA seems to be hedging its bets. While the junior strata has stated that it will indeed be Nitish Kumar who will be repeated, should the NDA come to power, these assertions are being made either by the BJP spokespersons or else allies like Chirag Paswan. Note that neither of the Big Two—Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah—has come out and stated this. In fact Amit Shah had earlier stated that it would be the elected MLAs who would decide the next CM. This has only added to the speculation for don’t forget that while Bihar is a crucial state in the Hindi heartland it is yet to deliver a BJP CM.
THE NEW MY
Elections in Bihar have traditionally been fought on the MY formula—Muslims and Yadavs. This time around, there is a new MY in place. As Yashwant Deshmukh, psephologist and founder of C-Voter remarked, MY now stands for Mahila and Youth. And each political party is coming up with schemes to woo this crucial vote bank. That is all, with the exception of Jan Suraaj, Prashant Kishor’s party, for not only has he not come up with a scheme specific for women, his comments against prohibition has further alienated this section. Yet, it is interesting to note that he has fielded the maximum number of women candidates than any other party. Jan Suraaj has given tickets to 25 women as opposed to 23 by the RJD, and 13 each by the BJP and JD(U). Knowing PK, he must have done his calculations. His campaign is wooing the youth, the minority and the upper caste. He does seem fairly confident even though this is his first election, for as he told the media, he will either get below 25 seats or else he will cross 125. “Arsh par ya farsh par,” he says. Hearing this, Amitabh Tiwari, election strategist and founder, Ascendia Strategies quipped, “That’s a pretty high range, from 0 to 125. If any psephologist would’ve said that the media would have trolled him.” Well, “Mind the Gap”, as they say.
