Bihar battle: Nitish Kumar wants to capitalise on PM Modi's 'poor DNA' remark

DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that carries genetic information about all living beings, has become a major election issue in Bihar this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his first rally in Muzaffarpur on 25 July that Nitish Kumar’s DNA seems to be poor. Before Modi addresses his second rally in gaya on 9 August, the Bihar chief minister is making this an issue, demanding that Modi withdraw the statement. Nitish Kumar will today write a letter to Modi, saying that his sentiments and those of the people of Bihar were hurt by the statement. He will also Tweet about this all day, answering questions on this issue in the evening. The strategy has Prashant Kishor’s trademark written all over it. Kishor, who designed a lot of Modi’s 2014 campaign, switched over to Nitish Kumar in December last year. Just as Modi had turned Mani Shankar Aiyar’s slur over his selling tea into an advantage, Nitish Kumar is seeking to capitalise on the DNA remark. In January 2014, Aiyar had said that Modi could not become India’s prime minister, but he could come and sell tea outside the All India Congress Committee convention if he liked. The remark was a reference to Mr Modi’s father, who used to run a tea stall. Modi’s campaign team had turned around and asked: can’t a chaiwallah’s son become prime minister? [caption id=“attachment_2374460” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. PTI[/caption] Just as Narendra Modi had, after the 2002 riots, made his persona an issue of Gujarati asmita – pride – Nitish Kumar is turning the DNA issue into a matter of Bihari asmita. Modi had said in his 25 July rally that when he saw that Nitish Kumar had humiliated not just him but also Jitan Ram Manjhi, a “mahadalit”, he felt there was something wrong in Nitish Kumar’s DNA. “There seems to be some problem in his DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In a democracy, you give respect even to your political rivals,” Modi had said. Nitish Kumar had earned a key talking point the same day, tweeting on the issue as soon as  Modi left Patna. “I am a son of Bihar, so my DNA is the DNA of the people of Bihar,” Nitish Kumar had tweeted , adding , “ Now I leave it to the people of Bihar how the reply someone who says their DNA is poor.” Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi had issued a statement the next day, saying, “It is ridiculous that Nitish Kumar who has betrayal and arrogance in his DNA is trying to epitomise himself as Bihar.” Two JD (U) leaders had filed cases in local courts against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hurting the sentiments of the people of Bihar, but the issue seemed to die down. It now appears what Nitish had meant by leaving it to the people was that he was postponing the use of this arsenal until Modi’s second rally was nigh. The Nitish campaign, designed by Prashant Kishor, now intends to make this a big issue, harping on it in advertisements, speeches, press conferences and social media. There’s another tale behind this war of words and competitive claiming of victimhood between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. Until Modi’s 25 July rally, the BJP’s strategy in Bihar was to attack the Nitish-Lalu alliance. The BJP was busy pointing out that Nitish had allied with the face of “jungle raj” and was telling voters that “jungle raj” could be back. The prime minister, however, focused a lot of his 25 July speech on how Nitish Kumar was not a trusthworthy man, how he had practiced political untouchability with Mr Modi, and betrayed the people of Bihar. This change of strategy actually gave Nitish Kumar’s party a breather, as it had been evaluating if the alliance with Lalu was hurting them. The prime minister shifting the attack to Nitish’s persona actually ended up strengthening the Nitish-Lalu alliance, much to the dismay of the Bihar state BJP. The Janata Dal (United) is now seeking to replace “jungle raj” with “DNA” as the issue to contend with. It would not be surprising if prime minister Modi focuses his 9 August rally in Gaya more on Nitish’s alliance with Lalu than on Nitish himself. Prime Minister Modi will also address election rallies in Saharsa on 18 August and Bhagalpur on 23 August – each week, the BJP and JDU will be fighting their war of words.