Decode Politics: Jobs to ‘BAAP’, why Tejashwi Yadav is first off the blocks in LS poll race

Bihar Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday embarked on a 10-day statewide Jan Vishwas Yatra during which he and his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will cover 33 of all 38 districts of the state. The yatra, which will conclude on March 1, marks an early start for Tejashwi’s Lok Sabha election campaign and provides him with the chance to establish the RJD’s poll narrative.

As Tejashwi set off on the yatra from Muzaffarpur, he not only targeted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he also coined a term, “BAAP”, to explain the reach of his party’s social combination. Taking aim at Nitish before leaving for Muzaffarpur, the former Deputy CM told reporters in Patna, “Nitish Kumar has no vision for the people of the state. He also had no justifiable reason for ditching us and going back to the BJP-led NDA. He thinks he can trample the people’s mandate under his feet (janaadesh ko apne pair ki jooti samajhte hain).”

In Muzaffarpur, Tejashwi said, “Nitish Kumar has no new vision for Bihar. He is a man of old thoughts. He did not have any reason to switch alliances.”

The RJD leader wants to consolidate his image as the next big political leader in Bihar after Nitish Kumar and get a headstart on both the JD(U) and the BJP before the parliamentary polls. The Opposition party has been constantly talking about how during the 2020 Bihar Assembly election campaign it promised to generate 10 lakh jobs if voted to power, and while in government for 17 months, created almost 4 lakh jobs.

Targeting Nitish, the RJD has shared old video statements of the CM saying it was impossible to give 10 lakh jobs and that it was “Mungerilal ka sapna (wishful thinking)”. An RJD strategist said, “At the outset, we are sharing with people what we have done