"Kuch na poocho un lamho ki dastan, wo bura waqt tha jo gujar gaya...."
This is how Laoo Prasad yadav must be consoling himself after the terrible defeat in Bihar elections...
The results for one of the most awaited elections in the country are finally out. Most awaited because this contained in itself the message that whether the state of Bihar ( or even the country if the generalization is not too premature) would choose the older politics of narrow caste biases only or henceforth the development would figure in prominently in the choice of voters...It also had to show whether the magic wand of 'Gandhis' from congress would also work here. Also, it hid in itself the mystery that can BJP come out of its hitherto communal image in Bihar as till now it had very less vote percentage of muslim minorities in Bihar which have the second largest population there in the country....but all above this, it was Nitish Kumar for whom this was a litmus test to prove his 'acid' of governance and set right his claims of a 'New Bihar'....
Finally, the curtains are up....No youth factor of Rahul Gandhi seems to have worked out as was being claimed by congress rather it is at a loss of 5 seats. The biggest loss has been to the RJD-LJP combine who were still banking on the age old myth of support of yadavs and scheduled castes. Rather Rabri Devi lost from both the seats she contested from.
To me, the biggest gainer is in fact BJP that too because of two reasons....First, though initially thought of as a probable cause of loss, not calling Narendra Modi and Barun Gandhi for campaigining rather proved to be profitable for it was this reason because of which the minorities voted for the BJP-JD(U) combine backed by the strong support of Nitish Kumar for minorities. The second reason was the "malai" of Nitish Kumar's name which came in BJP's part as a partner in alliance otherwise it was very difficult for BJP to score 91 out of 102 which it fought.
JD (U) on the other hand has been the real performer led by its leader Nitish Kumar. The "cycles for girl child " and the schemes for Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) bore fruits for them and not only their traditional vote banks, they got support from all sections of society to score a landslide victory for their alliance. The huge turn out of women voters in Bihar elections was an important factor in their win.
Another important aspect of these elections is the vindication of the fact that a leader more efficient at national level may not be so effective at the state level and vice-versa. Laloo and Nitish Kuamr are the best example for this. Laloo, who was hailed internationally for his administration of railways was a failure for 15 years as a CM. However, Nitish kumar who was not much succesful as a railway minister and the country witnessed higher no. of railway accidents during his regime, is highly successful as a chief minister. Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Late Shri Y.S.Rajshekhar reddy also fall in the same category.
Now, when Nitish kumar has won the 3/4 majority in the house, he has a greater challenge to face when he climbs on the podium on friday. It has been an Indian tradition, especially in development sphere, to start any new work with extreme zeal but to loose focus in between. Nitish Kumar has to be cautious enough not to fall in the trap of overjoy of this overwhelming majority and loose focus. After the improvement in law and order situation, Electricity and unemployment are the two major issues, his government will have to address. Bihar, until the separation of Jharkhand, was quite rich in mineral resources. Despite this fact, due to political and administrative committment, the state remained in the BIMARU condition. Prime requirement today is that of industries in Bihar which will require power as input and as a result will generate employment.
The other peculiar situation with Bihar is its climatic conditions. It experiences drought and flood in the same year.e.g. on 15 Aug. 2010, all the districts of Bihar were declared drought hit whereas just after one month, the easterna nd western Bihar was caught in flood due to overflow of Gangetic river system.So, the people of Bihar would expect an everlasting solution from Nitish Kumar. similar is the case of land reforms in Bihar for which the Bandopadhyaya commission was formed but again due to lack of political will, the marginal and landless laborers acting as "Bataidars" are still at the receiving end. Though, it was not a prominent part of manifesto from the winning alliance but in the long run, it is the most important agrarian reform that can't wait for too long especially in agriculture dominant state like Bihar.
All in all the elections have been quite interesting in Bihar and the election commission is to be lauded for the almost violence free election first time in Bihar. Now, it remains to be seen that whether the flag of development is carried to the elections in other states and at National level.
