The distant past has its uses. It distracts attention from the immediate present. That seemed to be the driving impulse behind three of the prime minister’s campaign speeches around the time of the first phase of assembly elections in Bihar. Narendra Modi focused on the ‘jungle raj’ appellation given to the rule of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, a term once used by the Patna High Court. Mr Modi used it to reawaken memories — and fears — of lawlessness and corruption, and of the Yadav dominance resented by the upper castes as well as by other scheduled groups. He referred to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, leading the Rashtriya Janata Dal, as the crown prince of the jungle raj.

By thus defining Mr Yadav’s identity as the son of Lalu Prasad, he suggested that he would carry on their legacy. Mr Modi’s strategy here was meant to neutralize Mr Yadav’s electoral promises of development and employment and his expressed abandonment of identity politics. But to do that, Mr Modi had to go back at least 15 years, which is when the RJD regime lost power. Yet the prime minister could have emphasized the rupture with ‘jungle raj’ lawlessness carried out by the National Democratic Alliance government led by Janata Dal (United)’s Nitish Kumar. Strangely, he expended few words on that. Mr Modi seems to believe that the distant past is the cause of all present evils, as his repeated references to Jawaharlal Nehru indicate. Clearly, his Bharatiya Janata Party needs as long a time to take India out of those malign influences.

Painting the past as inglorious or glorious to manipulate voter response is not the style of Bihar’s Opposition leaders. In his campaign speeches at the same time, Rahul Gandhi declared that this election was about the state’s future. He promised that if elected, an RJD-Congress government would be for every caste and community, all districts and regions. Mr Gandhi backed up Mr Yadav’s promises of development and inclusiveness, saying that an RJD-Congress government would work for education, health, jobs and women’s safety. He sought to dismiss the past — Mr Modi’s favourite weapon — with promises for the future. The Opposition might be hoping that addressing state-specific problems might count as more worthwhile with voters than the prime minister’s references to the achievement of Ram Mandir.