Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced the construction of Jarasangh Memorial. The political significance of his announcement is also being extracted. Know, what is the political meaning behind this announcement…
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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced the construction of the Jarasangh Memorial. While announcing this at the International Convention Center of Nalanda, he said, this has been done so that the new generation can know and understand Magadha Emperor Jarasangha. In Nalanda’s Rajgir, there is a historical arena of the Magadha emperor Jarasangh of the Mahabharata period. It is said that this is the same arena where the Malla war took place between Jarasandh and Bhima for 13 days. Jarasangh was defeated in this war on the 14th day.
It is said that milk, turmeric, sandalwood and ghee were mixed in the soil here. Wherever the warriors used to descend for the war, they used to start the war with the same soil continuously in the body. The political meaning of Nitish Kumar’s announcement is also being extracted. Know, who was Jarasangh and how much Nitish can benefit by getting a memorial built in his name…
Who was Jarasangha?
It is said that Jarasangha was the son of King Brihadartha. There were no sons before King Brihadartha. He told his problem in front of a sage. The sage gave him a fruit and asked him to feed it to the queen. The king cut that fruit into two pieces and fed one part each to both the queens. The queen became pregnant. When both of them had a child, it was divided into two pieces. The terrified queens threw her out. Both the pieces were found by an elusive demon named Zara and when she joined both the pieces, it turned into a child. Hearing his cry, the queen came out and picked him up and named him Jarasangh.
In the Mahabharata period, when there was a war between Bhima and Jarasangh, Shri Krishna told Bhima the trick to kill him. In this way Jarasangha was killed.
Why is Nitish making Jarasangh’s memorial?
There is also a political significance behind the construction of Jarasangh’s memorial. With this bet, Nitish wants to connect the very backward vote bank, especially Chandravanshi (Kahar) with the Grand Alliance. This is such a vote bank which is inclined towards PM Modi. This preparation of Nitish is being done for the Chandravanshis, who are called big vote banks in Bihar politics. If Nitish is successful in his strategy, then the BJP may be at a loss.
After parting ways with the BJP, Nitish Kumar tried to unite the Chandravanshi community, which considers Jarasangh as its ancestor. The announcement of the construction of the memorial is a part of that effort.
How much influence do they have in Bihar?
Chandravanshis have special interference in the politics of central Bihar. From the point of view of vote bank, they cannot be ignored. They have special influence in many districts of Bihar like Nalanda, Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Shahbad, Arwal. Nitish Kumar is trying to connect the most backward castes on the pretext of Jarasangh.
Even though there is still time for the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar, the ground is being prepared for the 2024 Lok Sabha and municipal elections. Nitish has started implementing the election strategy on the pretext of the memorial.
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