Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) has released a new poster in which Chief Minister and party president Nitish Kumar has been projected as “okay”, a perceptible change from the “honest and good” leader that he was described as in posters publicised in March.
The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal released a counter poster on Tuesday, taking a dig at the JD(U)’s publicity material.
“Kyun karen vichaar… thike to hai Nitish Kumar (why should we think… Nitish Kumar is doing okay),” reads the JD(U)'s latest poster with a large image of Mr. Kumar sporting a smile.
The word “thike” loosely translates in English as “okay or all right”. The poster has been put up outside the JD(U) office at Beerchand Patel Marg in Patna. Earlier in March, the JD(U) had released a poster with the slogan “sachha hai, achha hai… chalo Nitish Kumar ke saath (he is honest and good… let’s go with Nitish Kumar)”.
The RJD’s counter poster reads, “Kyon na karen vichaar, Bihar jo hai beemar (why shouldn’t we think things over, since Bihar is ill).” Featuring the State’s map, the poster points to what the Opposition party claims ails Bihar currently — deaths of children due to encephalitis, floods, drought, dacoity, kidnappings and murder.
The poster is displayed outside the local RJD office, a few yards away from the JD(U) headquarters. Another poster which has gone viral on social media reads, “Ho chuka hai vichaar, denge ukhaar… kahin ke nahi rahenge Nitish Kumar (it’s resolved now, we will uproot him… nowhere will Nitish Kumar be left relevant).”
‘Not okay with just okay’
Taking a potshot at the new JD(U) poster, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said: “Being just okay won't work Nitish ji.”
Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari asserted that Mr. Kumar’s profile had been “downgraded from being honest and good to just okay” by some of his own party leaders who are closer to the BJP.
Dismissing the criticism, JD(U) spokesperson and party leader Sanjay Singh said: “The slogan represents the voice of 12 crore residents of Bihar… the poster means there is no vacancy for the post of Chief Minister in Bihar.”
Local BJP leaders declined to comment on the poster. “Each party is free to come out with its slogan and face of the leader,” said a senior BJP leader. “But, whoever has coined the slogan in the new JD(U) poster has damaged Nitish Kumar more than projecting him as a leader,” he added, with a smile.