Katihar: With just a day to go for voting in the fifth and final phase of Bihar elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has come out with an advertisement in the Mithilanchal-Kosi-Seemanchal editions of newspapers targeting the Mahagathbandhan on statements made on beef and cow. The advertisement shows a woman hugging a cow with a message at the top asking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reply on the comments by leaders of his alliance and his silence on it till now.
The advertisement specifically lists out the comments of Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Lalu Prasad and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Lalu is quoted as saying: “One who eats beef, eats it. Doesn't a Hindu eat beef? Isn't the person who goes out of the country eating beef. Even in Hindustan people eat beef. How does it make a difference to a meat eating person if it is a goat or a cow."
On the other hand, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had claimed that the even ascetics and saints used to consume beef during the vedic period while Congress leader and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement that no one can stop him from eating beef has also been highlighted.
The advertisement accuses Nitish Kumar of indulging in politics of vote bank and asks him if he agrees with these statements. To highlight the issue beef is written in red colour while the rest of the statements are in black. At the bottom it says "jawaab nahi to vote nahi" (no answer, no vote).
Both the alliances have tried to make beef an issue in Bihar following the lynching of a 50-year-old Muslim man in Dadri area of western Uttar Pradesh following rumours that his family was consuming beef. While RJD and NDA leaders have raised the beef issue in some of their rallies, Nitish Kumar has so far maintained a studied silence on it.
Lalu had later claimed that a "shaitan" had entered inside his body and forced him to make the statement. NDA leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mocked Lalu and appealed to the voters not to go with the Mahagathbandhan.
With several seats having heavy concentration of Muslims in the last phase, the BJP advertisement is aimed at counter polarisation of Hindu votes. Although on the ground there seems to be little discussion about beef, but communal polarisation on the voting day could alter the final outcome.
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