Bihar rallies, Dagher amazed

MASAURHI: There was no glitz and glamour. The crowd did not carry colourful placards or wear badges with name, face and flag of their leader. The leader did not have a teleprompter to guide him through his speech, or celebrities to endorse him.

Yet, Mr Pete Dagher, who was associated with president Barack Obama’s campaign, stood amazed watching Indian democracy at work in Bihar’s Masaurhi. He had not seen anything like this before. The size of the crowd was way too big by American standards, the way the crowd cheered its leader in the hot and dusty weather baffled Mr Dagher.

What shocked him was that there was no primary facilities provided for the people who came for the campaign. Not even drinking water or toilets, leave alone food. But the crowd just stood eagerly listening to the election speech of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Mr Dagher had driven down to Masaurhi, 30 km south of Patna, on Thursday afternoon to be part of the election rally which Mr Nitish Kumar addressed at the local Gandhi Maidan.

“I am just overwhelmed. It can’t get bigger than this in such a small place with so many people turning up for a rally. There is no provision of water, no entertainment, but still they are out in this maidan. My heart is filled with love after having seen so many people participating in democracy. It makes me realise how much stronger the US–India relations should become for the cause of democracy,“ said 42-year Dagher who was also associated with Mr Bill Clinton.

In America, he said, the only time he saw a rally this big was a week before Mr Obama was elected president. “But in the US, you have to ensure that those coming for the rally will have to be fed with music, and provided water and toilet facilities; sometimes you will have to make arrangements for food. But here it works differently.”

“I should be honest enough to admit that I have never seen anything like this before. I worked for two presidents and I should have seen all this 20 years ago,“ said Mr Dagher on his maiden visit to India. Mr Dagher was equally impressed with what the chief minister said during the rally.

“The CM was humble, he asked for the vote instead of demanding it, as is in China. The rally he addressed today was, to me, as beautiful and powerful as the Taj Mahal,“ he remarked.