I/II. http://scroll.in/article/764434/helicopter-test-as-bihar-campaign-heats-up-bjp-reduces-number-of-hired-choppers
BIHAR ELECTIONS What the number of choppers hired by the BJP says about its Bihar campaign There are still three phases of polling to go but the party seems to be cutting helicopter trips for its star speakers. Dhirendra K Jha · Today · 09:15 am Even as campaigning is at its peak with two-thirds of the 243 seats in the Bihar assembly yet to go to the polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party appears to be reducing the intensity of its push – at least, if the number of helicopters it hired for the operation is any indication. Out of 16 private helicopters that the BJP had hired for the campaign, it returned five after the second phase of polling on October 16, an official at Patna airport said. “Four helicopters have already been returned while the fifth one will be laid off today [Friday],” the official said. Confirming the development, a senior leader of the BJP’s Bihar unit said the decision to reduce the number of choppers was taken after the second phase of polling. He did not give a reason for the decision. Helicopters are frequently used to ferry senior leaders to far-flung venues in states with bad road networks. Strong polarisation While 49 Bihar assembly constituencies went to polls in the first phase on October 12, a total of 32 seats were decided in the second phase. There was a big gap in the poll schedule after this because of Durga Puja and Muharram. Votes will be cast in the remaining 162 constituencies on October 28, November 1 and November 5. The results will be declared on November 8. Observers say that there has been a strong polarisation of voters in the state, with members of the backward castes, Dalits and minorities appearing to favour the BJP’s opponents. In a move that some observers view as nervousness on the part of the BJP, the party altered its newspaper advertisements after the first phase to feature an array of state leaders but omitting Narendra Modi. This, observers say, is an attempt to project the Bihar elections as a localised electoral battle, not a referendum on the prime minister’s performance. After the second phase of polling, Modi and party president Amit Shah began to disappear even from billboards. The decision to reduce the number of campaign helicopters is in contrast to the pattern witnessed during last year’s Lok Sabha elections. “I don’t know about other states, but in Bihar the choppers hired by the BJP kept increasing in number and heli-campaigns became more intense as the election progressed,” the Patna airport official said. Heavy costs The average cost of hiring a twin-engine helicopter is approximately Rs 1.8 lakh a flying hour plus 14% service tax. Single-engine choppers cost approximately Rs 1 lakh a flying hour plus service tax. A star campaigner usually flies three to four hours a day to address rallies. By the time the first phase of polling was held, political parties in the fray had hired nearly two dozen private helicopters, trying to reach out nearly 55 million voters. The BJP had hired 16 helicopters, which were used by Modi, Shah and nearly a dozen union ministers from Bihar, considered star campaigners for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The BJP’s opponents – Janata Dal-United of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad and the Congress party – had hired two choppers each. These parties are retaining the choppers for now, said the official at Patna airport. II. http://scroll.in/article/763989/rss-election-machine-grinds-to-a-virtual-halt-in-bihar-amidst-tension-with-bjp BIHAR ELECTIONS RSS election machine grinds to a virtual halt in Bihar amidst tension with BJP The situation is in marked contrast to the organisation's energetic groundwork during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Dhirendra K Jha · Yesterday · 11:30 am The Bharatiya Janata Party won 22 out of the 30 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Bihar last year. A major factor in this success was the hard work put in by the BJP’s parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. RSS cadres ran the show on the ground: they mobilised voters and mastered the art of booth management. Eighteen months on, though, with Bihar assembly election in full swing, the involvement of the RSS appears to be rather minimal. RSS insiders confirm that a tension has crept into its relationship with the BJP because of the apparent attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah to end the BJP’s overwhelming dependence on its ideological mentor. A senior RSS office-bearer said that these efforts include Shah’s pet project to train 15 lakh new party workers by January, which is when Shah will be up for re-election as BJP president. The RSS has kept mum on the issue, but its top brass at Nagpur have been anxiously watching the progress of this massive exercise from the sidelines. “The RSS is not totally inactive in the Bihar election,” said the office-bearer. "But it is aware that a BJP victory could complicate the relationship within the Sangh Parivar." Storm brewing The first sign of strained ties became apparent mid-September, when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a social review of the country’s policy of reserving jobs and seats in educational institutions for members of marginal communities. His remarks put the BJP on the backfoot in election-bound Bihar, exposing the party to to criticism that it wanted to abolish quotas to appease its upper-caste voters Despite repeated clarifications over the past month and Bhagwat's praise for BR Ambedkar in his Dusserah speech on Thursday, BJP leaders are still struggling to regain the trust of Other Backward Castes and Dalits in the state. But Bhagwat’s comments are not the only reflection of the BJP-RSS tension. It is hard to locate RSS cadres on the ground in Bihar in constituencies being contested by the BJP. And the RSS is completely inactive in seats being contested by the BJP’s allies – the Lok Janshakti Party, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and the Hindustani Awam Morcha. This is a conscious decision on the part of the RSS. “The Sangh organised a meeting of Vaishali district’s branch level office-bearers on October 10 to allocate election responsibilities,” said Rakesh Kumar, the Sangh official in charge of Hajipur and joint coordinator of the seat, which goes to the polls on October 28. “The RSS decided not to assign any responsibility for four Vaishali constituencies in which BJP’s allies fielded candidates.” Lack of interest Kumar contrasts this with the situation last year, when the RSS’ hard work in Hajipur laid the foundation for Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan’s victory. He admits that the RSS’ overall ground support for the assembly election pales in comparison to efforts during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “We have formed committees in almost all the wards in Hajipur assembly constituency,” he said. "But to tell you the truth, neither the backup support nor the response of the people is of the kind I witnessed during the Lok Sabha election. The Sangh’s monitoring is not at par with our efforts last year.” In Muzaffarpur district, the RSS has yet to get its act together with just a week to go for the fourth phase of the election. “No formal committee has been formed here,” said Raushan Kumar, the RSS pracharak responsible for Muzaffarpur town. “Our cadres are active in constituencies where the BJP has fielded candidates, but there is no organised attempt to mobilise voters.” He laughed off a question about the RSS’ involvement in constituencies being contested by the BJP’s alliance partners. “The Sangh has many things to do,” Kumar said. 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