Patna: The much heated and fierce battleground of Bihar Polls might turn out to be annual appraisal for Narendra Modi Government, which received a huge support from Bihar in 2014 General Elections.
Scholars from an American think-tank have also echoed similar views. â€No matter what the voters of Bihar decide, the ramifications will be felt far beyond the state’s borders,†scholars Milan Vaishnav and Saksham Khosla from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote.
If NDA under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi manages to repeat the magic it wieleded last year, this would be seen as a major boost to his policy and his approval rating.
If it falls short, it would be a big blow, especially because Modi has associated his own reputation so closely with the campaign, even recently announcing a $ 19 billion (Rs 1.25 lakh crore) economic package for the state, the Carnegie scholars wrote.
If the BJP wins the election, Modi supporters and sympathisers will say that this is proof that people approve of Modi’s performance as prime minister. Modi critics will say Bihar isn’t all of India. If the BJP loses, the same critics will say Modi’s popularity is dipping.
The election could also make or break the careers of the chief minister Nitish Kumar and his new found ally Lalu Prasad Yadav, the think-tank scholars said.
â€Kumar’s star, once among the brightest of all state leaders, has dimmed after the 2014 general election debacle. For Yadav, who will likely return to jail to serve time for a corruption conviction, a victory would maintain his and his family’s relevance in state politics,†they wrote.
â€Forming an alliance in Bihar would provide Congress some comfort for its spate of recent electoral defeats and boost the standing of the party’s heir-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi,†they said
If Nitish Kumar wins this election, he will be called only the second person to have made Modi taste defeat, after Arvind Kejriwal. It will be said that Nitish has won against the BJP juggernaut because he’s been a good administrator. It will be said that this is proof that people vote for good governance.