A Tale of Two Campaigns, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy

Abstract

As Bihar enters the final phases of polling in the Assembly Elections, Sarthak Bagchi reflects on the competitive campaigns launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Grand Alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav, called the Mahagathbandhan. Bagchi’s reports bring out the divergent and distict campaign strategies of the two alliances, with one clearly on a grand scale catering to a richer, upper-caste voter base, designed to razzle and dazzle, while the other targets individuals in villages and hamlets, and is low-key. However, as Bagchi points out, both campaigns have been hard pressed to strike a balance between the rhetoric of caste and development.