Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted quoting US presidential candidate Joe Biden
Congress MP P Chidambaram on Sunday quoted US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and urged the people of Bihar - who will vote in Assembly elections starting October 28 - to choose "hope over fear, unity over division... and truth over lies".
In a series of three tweets posted this morning Mr Chidambaram referred to a oft-repeated statement made by Mr Biden as he challenges Donald Trump for the US presidency, and appealed to people across India to take a similar vow.
"Mr Joe Biden, Democratic candidate in the US elections, said yesterday, 'We choose hope over fear, unity over division, science over fiction and yes, truth over lies'," Mr Chidambaram tweeted, adding, "That's a good vow that the people of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere should take when they go to the polling booths this month."
Mr Chidambaram also referred to the New Zealand general election - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's centre-Left government won an unprecedented majority decision yesterday - to suggest that "decency and progressive values" can win elections.
Apart from the Bihar elections, by polls for a Lok Sabha seat and 56 Assembly seats across 12 states - including 28 in Madhya Pradesh - are scheduled for the first week of November.
In Bihar, the Congress is part of the mahagathbandhan - an opposition alliance led by the RJD - and released its manifesto yesterday, promising 10 lakh permanent government jobs and the immediate repeal of the central government's controversial farm laws.
The Congress will contest 70 seats as part of an agreement with the RJD (which will contest 144 seats) and Left parties (which will contest 29).
Spread over three phases, Bihar election results will be declared on November 10. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his JDU, backed by the BJP, is hoping to secure a sixth term in power.
In Madhya Pradesh, by polls were made necessary after 22 Congress MLAs quit and triggered the fall of the Kamal Nath government in March. The party is defending 27 seats that it won in 2018 election and currently holds 88 seats in the 230-member Assembly.
The US Presidential election - one of the most closely-followed electoral races in the world - is scheduled for November 3 - the same day that the second phase of the Bihar election will take place.
Earlier this week the 2020 Indian American Attitude Survey (IAAS) indicated that 72 per cent of registered Indian American voters had either voted for, or planned to vote for, Mr Biden and his vice presidential pick Kamala Harris.