Toned-Down SIR, 'Jungle Raj' Digs At Oppn As BJP Changes Poll Strategy After RaGa's Bihar Yatra

Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 14:29 IST

As part of its new strategy, BJP has decided to exploit the fault-lines between the RJD and the Congress as well as pick on the internal rift in Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family

BJP refuses to call it a deliberate strategy shift and terms it a manifestation of political realities. (PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to change its strategy for poll-bound Bihar after analysing the response to Congress-led Opposition’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in the state, which saw Rahul Gandhi traverse 1,300 kilometres and raise questions on the integrity of the election process.

The party’s election campaign started with the narrative of ‘Jungle Raj’, corruption during Lalu Prasad’s rule and demographic shift that made the NDA throw its weight behind the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

As part of its new strategy, BJP has decided to exploit the fault-lines between the RJD and the Congress. Rather than attacking both parties, BJP is going soft towards the RJD and referring to it as the “bigger party" in the alliance to create a rift between the two parties.

On Monday, former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, during a press conference in Delhi, subtly raised the issue, while also underlining the alleged intra-Yadav family rivalry. “When they travel in a car, Rahul Gandhi is in front and Tejashwi (Yadav) is in the back. Akhilesh Yadav also gets a seat in the back…But Tejashwi Yadav, why did you become the secondary player in Bihar? The Congress that does not have a vote of its own and functions due to you has made you the secondary player?" he asked.

Prasad then went on to highlight the “plight" of the Yadav family. He claimed Tejashwi’s sister was spotted somewhere in North Bihar. “There are two MPs from Patna—one is me and the other is Misa Bharti, who is the daughter of Lalu Ji and sister of Tejashwi. She was nowhere to be found. Has Rahul Gandhi strengthened the family’s inner-rivalry?"

Hindi words like ‘Jungle Raj’, ‘Parivaarvaad’, ‘Bhrashtachar’, ‘Ghuspaithiya’ that became part of the political lexicon during Bihar election campaign have suddenly gone silent, thanks to BJP’s strategy shift. In the coming days, there is likely to be far lesser discourse on SIR during campaigns, added party sources.

While the BJP dismissed Gandhi’s 16-day-long yatra as ‘flop’, the crowd he managed to gather did not go unnoticed by the top leadership, say sources. BJP’s decision to go for a shift in its strategy came after that, News18 has reliably learnt.

However, BJP refuses to call it a deliberate strategy shift and terms it a manifestation of political realities.

“Tejashwi Yadav announced the name of Rahul Gandhi as the future prime ministerial candidate with great hopes. On the other hand, when Rahul Gandhi was asked whether he endorses Tejashwi for CM, he did not say a word. Tejashwi was left heart-broken. Then Tejashwi Yadav took matters into his own hands and announced himself as the CM candidate, getting endorsement from Akhilesh Yadav, even as Rahul Gandhi remained silent. The two parties got individual posters. This contradiction will be reflected during seat sharing as well. Hence, BJP need not strategise. It is for all to see," BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala told News18.

While the Congress-RJD may bear some inherent contradictions, the response to the Yatra has not just surprised but forced the BJP-led NDA alliance in Bihar to redraw its strategies. One may argue that Congress did not question the poll body’s integrity when it won successive state election in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana etc. But politics is perception. And in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi’s yatra has helped create a perception among a certain section of society. It is this perception that BJP wants to change.

News elections Toned-Down SIR, 'Jungle Raj' Digs At Oppn As BJP Changes Poll Strategy After RaGa's Bihar Yatra

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