Author: M.V. Kamath
Publication: Organiser
Date: December 25, 2005
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=109&page=27
Introduction: Paswan, the UPA mascot, was
openly advocating communalism in Bihar by promising, if successful, to appoint
a Muslim as the Chief Minister.
After fifteen years of corrupt rule, Lalu
Prasad Yadav, a political joker if ever there was one, has been shown the
door. The State of Bihar, reeking under crime, corruption and total lawlessness
must breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully the new Nitish Kumar government will
bring peace and sanity in a land that had given birth to the Buddha and in
recent years was the home of Babu Rajendra Prasad and Jayaprakash Narayan.
There are five cases against Lalu Prasad,
including the fodder scam. The CBI, in these years, has been showing a reluctance
to pursue the cases against Lalu Prasad involving crores of rupees. These
cases must now be re-opened and justice should be seen to be done. But it
is well to remember that Lalu Prasad still has a base in his State. It would
be foolish to write him off at this stage. He still retains the allegiance
of a substantial section of the people. It was just a minuscule negative swing
of less than one per cent votes that cost the RJD-led Secular Democratic Front
(SDF) dear. For the SDF constituents-RJD, Congress, NCP and CPM-who polled
31.08 per cent votes, just 0.95 per cent less than what they got in February
meant a loss of 29 seats bringing the tally down from 89 to 65. If the CPI
and CPM not split (the CPM went with the RJD-led Secular Democratic Front
while the CPI went along with Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janashakti Party) and
both, along with Congress, had joined hands with the so-called Secular Democratic
Front, Lalu could still have remained in power. It is wise to remember that.
Lalu Prasad still has a strong caste-ist vote
bank in Bihar. He is down but not yet out. Only when he is tried and found
guilty of the scam charges and is put behind bars can decent Biharis breathe
more easily. As of now, Bihar is low down on the scale of prosperity among
all Indian states. No one in his right mind would want to invest in Bihar,
a State all but disowned by its own people. In past years scores of middle
class Biharis migrated to other parts of India, to escape terrorism and extortionists'
demands. Thousands of poor left Bihar to look for jobs elsewhere, from Jammu
& Kashmir, to Goa and Karnataka. Many were willing to work for 16 hours
a day, to earn Rs 120, in competition with local labour, thus inviting the
latter's anger. Bihari labour is about the most disliked, for obvious reasons.
In order to survive they have dared to undercut legitimate wage standards
prevailing in most parts of India. In no sphere, it would seem does Bihar
command any respect. That is the saddest part of it all.
That the Congress should support a man like
Lalu Prasad tainted with scam is even worse. Consider the following: The Fodder
Scam, amounting to Rs 1,153 crore remains yet to be resolved after nine years.
The same is true of the Bitumen scam worth Rs 400 crore. The CBI has yet to
probe the Medicine scam of Rs 300 crore, the Land scam of Rs 400 crore, the
Blanket scam of Rs 40 crore, not to speak of the Tree Cutting scam of Rs 300
crore. Despite all these scams, Lalu continues to remain in the Congress-led
UPA government. What does it say of the Congress?
No mater how much the Congress would deny
it, Paswan, its mascot, was openly advocating communalism in Bihar by promising,
if successful, to appoint a Muslim, as the Chief Minister. Taking the lead
in giving tickets to Muslims was the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP). It fielded
a maximum of 47 Muslim candidates to counter Lalu Prasad's party. Only one
Muslim LJP candidate managed to win. Lalu's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) itself
fielded 30 Muslim candidates, promising reservations in jobs to Muslims at
the same time. Barely four won. In fact throughout the State Muslim candidates
put up a very poor show: Of 1,020 candidates only 15 Muslim candidates won.
That says something. In the past Lalu Prasad Yadav had ridden to power on
a backward caste upsurge in the aftermath of the Mandal movement. He presented
himself as the saviour of backward castes. He went out of his way to make
fun of upper caste subordinates in the government and was not above humiliating
some of them. More, he deliberately-and breaking all rules- promoted those
government servants hailing from the lower, backward castes. Thereby he thought
he was delivering social justice. In his zeal to raise standards of the backward
castes he ushered in a rift between them and upper castes which started to
migrate. Standards began to fall rapidly. The economy went into a tail spin.
Corruption became rampant. Caste conflicts arose, sharply dividing the people.
The State's debts started rising rapidly, even as revenues fell. Bihar's per
capita expenditure on medical and health facilities came to Rs 86 in comparison
to the national average of Rs 157. It was the same story in other fields as
well. Thus, the per capita expenditure on roads and bridges came to Rs 44.60
against a national average of Rs 118 and the per capita expenditure on irrigation
and flood control was as low as Rs 104.40 when the national average was Rs
200. To Lalu Prasad these figures did not matter. Power was all.
The time came when tourists were advised not
to stir out of their hotels after sunset lest they were attacked by dacoits.
Understandably Bihar's tourist trade is about the lowest in the country. The
guardians of law and order often looked the other way. Upper castes started
organising their own senas to maintain caste security. Jails were filled but
without sufficient security infra-structure. Thus, Jehanabad Jail which was
recently raided by Maoists and had an official capacity for 140 prisoners
had 658 prisoners but not more than eight guards! That was open invitation
for a Maoist Army to attack the jail and get the prisoners released. Jehanabad
Jail did not even have a Jail Superintendent for the past six months. And
all this in Lalu Prasad's raj.
The fact that an 'army' of over 1,000 Maoists
raided the Jehanabad jail itself speaks loudly of the economic situation in
Bihar. Why would anybody join Maoists if they had some reasonable means of
living?
Nitish Kumar, in the circumstances, has a
big job on hand. He has to convince capital that it can safely invest in Bihar.
In the next five years he has to create thousands of jobs to restore the people's
selfconfidence, and give them a sound reason to stay at home rather than to
look for jobs elsewhere. Corrupt officials have to be severely punished to
show that the new Chief Minister means business. And Nitish Kumar himself
must show that his conduct is above board. But the future beckons him.
