PM Modi in Darbhanga began his public address with ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan and described Mithila land of ‘King Janak and Goddess Sita’. In the land of Mithila in Bihar, Ram is echoing in the election campaign. On May 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his public address at Darbhanga with the ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan and described Mithila region the land of ‘King Janak and Goddess Sita’ (mythological characters) with the hope that the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya would get the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) electoral dividends. Less than 10 km from Darbhanga, Gulab Yadav, a 72-year-old from Yadav-dominated Bijli village talks about his switch in vote from Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to the BJP. “The biggest campaign plank in Mithila region is Ram in this election. Lalu no doubt is our leader and so is Tejaswi [Yadav], but they are leaders for the state. When the matter comes to the national interest, we will always vote for [PM] Narendra Modi because he has gone to arrange an abode for our Ram Lalla,” he said. The Mithila region has four parliamentary constituencies – Darbhanga, Madhubani, Jhajharpur and Samastipur and the National Democratic Alliance won all four in 2019. With Lord Ram playing out in elections, the National Democratic Alliance [NDA] aims to repeat its feat.Binod Kumar Mishra, 62, of Kamalpur village in Madhubani district said, Ram along with Sita, is a household name in Mithila and “how can we vote for a party that refused to attend the pran parishtha (consecration ceremony) functions of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya this year for us”.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad declined an invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22. Kamlesh Yadav, 40, of Raiyam Balia, said, “…No doubt Tejaswi is our chief ministerial candidate, but for national interest, he cannot be a substitute of Narendra Modi. Yadavs of our area have unanimously decided that in the Lok Sabha elections, they will vote for NDA as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the symbol of good governance in Independent India. Yadavs, despite being from an OBC caste, have always had an inclination for religion and Hindutva,” he said.
