From Munna to Nitish Kumar: Comic series tells Bihar CM's story

Planned to bolster the image of Kumar and brand him as an unparalleled leader ahead of the state elections, the comic series, Munna se Nitish, deals with events of his childhood that apparently shaped Kumar as a successful mass leader down the years.

A few snapshots of the comic series, accessed by the HT on Facebook, promises to treat readers with some episodes of Nitish’s life as a young boy and, which, it claims is the stuff of childhood, and the experiences that imprinted on his mind, is said to have inspired many changes in Bihar’s social set up once he became the chief minister.

A snapshot from comic series 'Munna Se Nitish'

The first page of the series depicts Munna sitting under a tree on a charpoy and confabulating with his friends to work out a solution about the issues they were confronted within the village. The text following the drawing reads that Kumar used to settle issues and differences among his friends since his childhood days, which apparently reflected on his leadership quality. The take is from the popular story of Chandragupta, of the Mura clan, who was discovered by Chanakya, statesman and economist-strategist, who was later installed by the latter on the throne of Pataliputra.

A snapshot from comic series 'Munna Se Nitish'

On another page, Munna is seen pulling his friend from underneath a railway bogie, which had just begun to roll on. "The incident had left an indelible impression on Kumar and so much that he undertook a drive to build a number of railway over bridges after becoming the railway minister so that people did not lose life in accidents," the text reads.

The comic series also contains a drawing that shows a teacher snatching answer sheet of Munna in an examination hall.

A senior party leader, associated with the party’s election campaign management, said the comic series has been planned as part of a number of strategies to buttress the slogan of ‘Phir ek baar, Nitish Kumar’ campaign to ensure the return of Nitish Kumar as the next chief minister.

“It is being done at the initiative of Prashant Kishor, the man whose branding of Narendra Modi helped the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to become the prime minister,” he said.