The abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and laying the foundation stone for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, which have topped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic (NDA) government’s list of achievements, are dominating the election narrative in Bihar, said a media report on Monday.
The two more phases of the election will be held on Tuesday (November 3) and Saturday (November 7).
Though the opposition continues to attack the NDA government for its failure to address issues of development in the state, opportunities for employment and the government’s response to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic; the BJP has made a concerted effort to benefit from the buoyant mood over the Ram temple issue and wants to elicit support by tapping on the sentiment that soldiers fighting in J&K and Ladakh evoke, Hindustan Times reported.
It has at the same time limited its reference to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 and the proposed National Citizens’ Register (NRC) and used them only to attack the opposition for creating “misinformation” about these contentious issues.
The opposition said the references to the Ram temple and J&K are attempts by the BJP to coalesce the Hindu vote and divert attention from local issues.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “These are used to divert attention from the real issues in a state, where it has been in power for 15 years and is answerable on many fronts and is up against the wall.”