Author: Amulya Ganguli
Publication: Free Press Journal
Date: January 6, 2010
URL: http://www.freepressjournal.in/fpj/fpj/2010/01/06/index.shtml?Search=Y&ArtId=007_016
It's going to be a chilly winter for Lalu
Yadav. Not only has his successor in the Railway Ministry, Mamata Banerjee,
hinted at exposing the falsities in his claims of a turnaround in the railway's
revenues, the latest figures of the Central Statistical Organization (CSO)
show that Nitish Kumar's government has achieved a miracle by reviving Bihar's
economy.
Even earlier, all visitors to the state, and
even members of Lalu Prasad's own party, the RJD, had noticed the distinct
change in atmosphere which Nitish Kumar had brought about. The despondency
of the recent past was gone and the fear of leaving home after dark was much
less. Although the Chief Minister's decision to spend some time in tents in
the villages was seen as a gimmick, there have been indications of the roads
and even national highways, which had disintegrated some distance from the
towns, being rebuilt.
Now, to confirm the turnaround, the CSO data
show that Bihar grew at the rate of 11.03 per cent in the last five years,
just the period when Nitish Kumar has been in power. What is remarkable is
that the growth rate is on a par with Gujarat's 11.05 per cent. This is clearly
good news not only for the JD (U) leader, but also his ally, the BJP, which
hasn't had much to cheer about recently. The BJP can now claim that the states
where it is in power like Bihar, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand
are doing well in economic terms.
Bihar's case is different because it was the
virtual leader among the BIMARU states with half its 80 million people under
the poverty line. When the JD (U)-BJP government assumed office in 2005, negating
the Congressappointed Governor Buta Singh's earlier attempts to keep Nitish
Kumar out, few had much hope about its future. The abysmal levels to which
the state had sunk made its fleeing citizens, who are derisively called Harrys
in Delhi and elsewhere, the butt of unkind jokes.
Only a few days ago, Delhi's Chief Minister,
Sheila Dikshit, reiterated her old complaint about Biharis crowding the national
capital. In Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray is merrily building a political career
out of bashing Biharis (along with the Bhaias from U.P.) with the annual Chhat
puja giving his goons a chance to go on the rampage.
There may not be a perceptible decline in
the emigration of Biharis in search of livelihood to other states in the near
future, but the high growth rate cannot but ultimately have an impact. If
the state government's drive against the criminals proves to be successful,
then the investors will not hesitate to return to the state.
For Nitish Kumar himself, the focus on the
bijlisadak-pani factor will also mean a relatively secure political future.
It is unclear what led to the slight jolt
which he experienced last September when the RJDLJP combination won more seats
than their opponents in the by-elections to the assembly.
The RJD won the highest number of seats -
six - in the 18 constituencies which went to the polls with its partner, the
LJP of Ramvilas Paswan winning three. The JD (U) also won three and the BJP
two, but Lalu Yadav's good showing after the earlier setbacks in the parliamentary
polls was surprising.
Perhaps Nitish Kumar had become somewhat complacent.
Perhaps his appearance with Narendra Modi on the same dais during the campaign
for the Lok Sabha elections had rekindled the old fears among the minorities.
Whatever the reason, there is little doubt
that he will continue to have to focus intensively on development if he wants
to stay ahead.
He owes Bihar a reprieve after the electorate
turned to him in desperation in 2005 after 15 years of Lalu Yadav's virtually
deliberate disregard of developmental efforts. The latter's belief that the
MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank would always stand by him proved woefully wrong
because of the realisation among the voters that safety (for Muslims) and
self-respect (for the backward castes) were not enough if there were no schools,
no health centres, no roads and no electricity.
It was their belief that Nitish Kumar would
not bank on the caste factor alone, which was responsible for his electoral
success. He has proved true to his word. Although he has played the usual
divisive games by singling out a new group, the extremely backward castes,
for preferential treatment, he has realised the prime importance of the bijli-sadak-pani
factor. If the CSO figures are true, he is on the right path. The state, which
was regarded as one of the best administered in the 1960s, and which was described
as the opposite of Shining India in Arvind Adiga's novel, The White Tiger,
is seemingly on the mend. Unlike Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati,
the Bihar chief minister has shown that the secret of success lies in the
advancement of all sections of people, and not specific caste groups alone.
