With days to go before the first phase of polling, verbal duels between BJP and the Opposition have turned the Bihar election into a fierce battle of rhetoric and accusations.
Our Bureau
Patna
As Bihar gears up for a high-stakes assembly election, the political temperature in the state has soared, with parties engaging in a no-holds-barred war of words. What began as sharp political jibes has snowballed into a full-blown controversy after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his “dance” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a comment that has triggered outrage within the ruling party and a spirited counterattack from the Opposition.
The BJP’s formal complaint to the Bihar Chief Election Officer accuses Gandhi of making “highly derogatory, indecent and personal remarks” against the Prime Minister during rallies in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga on October 29. The party urged the Election Commission to take “immediate and exemplary action” against the Congress leader for violating the Model Code of Conduct and “lowering the dignity of the Prime Minister’s office.” The BJP has even sought a campaign ban on Gandhi, calling his comments a direct insult to India’s highest constitutional position.
The controversy began when Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur, accused Prime Minister Modi of being willing to “do anything for votes.” “He just wants your vote. If you ask him to do a drama, he will. If you tell Narendra Modi to dance, he will dance,” Gandhi told a cheering crowd, taking a swipe at what he described as Modi’s performative politics. The BJP immediately pounced on the remark, framing it as an “unbecoming and personal attack” that “crosses the line of decency and democratic discourse.”
Congress, however, hit back hard. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the BJP of being “issueless” and using manufactured outrage to divert attention from its governance failures in Bihar. “Just imagine how issueless a party can be. They have no agenda, no report card, no vision for the Bihar elections, and yet they are making this an issue,” Khera said. He also reminded the BJP that its leaders, including the Prime Minister, had often used harsh words against opponents. “A party whose Prime Minister uses words like ‘mujra’ has the guts to object to the word ‘dance’? What bigger joke could there be?” he added.
As the political slugfest intensifies, both camps have turned the campaign into a battle of narratives. For the Congress and its Mahagathbandhan allies, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the strategy is clear — attack the BJP over unemployment, price rise, and the lack of opportunities in Bihar. For the BJP, the focus is on Prime Minister Modi’s personal credibility, welfare schemes, and the party’s promise of stability.
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, the Opposition was united in exposing what he called the “vote theft” strategy of the BJP. “Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav’s pair has stirred the BJP in Bihar. The people have seen through the drama. There is going to be a change in Bihar,” Chowdhury said. Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda added that the public mood was shifting. “People have made up their minds. Mahagathbandhan will form the next government. No matter how many big leaders BJP sends, it’s the people who will vote,” he said.
At rallies across the state, Rahul Gandhi has continued to hammer the ruling party on bread-and-butter issues. In Sheikhpura, he questioned why Bihar’s youth have to migrate for jobs and medical treatment. “A city like Dubai was built by the hard work of Biharis. Then why can’t Bihar provide jobs for its own people?” he asked. He called for Bihar to reclaim its legacy as a centre of education and knowledge, urging voters to imagine a future where products are “Made in Bihar, not Made in China.”
For the BJP, the response has been equally combative. Senior leaders have accused the Congress of dragging the campaign into the gutter and insulting the Prime Minister for electoral mileage. Party insiders say the BJP intends to highlight the “disrespectful” tone of the Opposition as evidence of its desperation. “Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits. He’s not just attacking Modi but the very office of the Prime Minister,” a BJP spokesperson said.
As the countdown to polling day begins, the Bihar campaign stands as a mirror to Indian politics itself — noisy, emotive, and polarized. Between the BJP’s claims of dignity and Congress’s insistence on calling out “hypocrisy,” voters now face a different kind of contest — not just between alliances, but between tone and temperament. In the end, it is Bihar’s electorate that will decide which argument, and which attitude, truly deserves to take centre stage.
—
