Politics presents a grim picture everywhere and in Bihar its even worse. We have caste equations, communal issues, strongmen and their henchmen ( list is pretty endless). However there's a ray of hope and not everything whats going on is wrong.
I boarded the train from Calcutta and then one of my companions started heaping praises on Nitish administration. Mostly all agreed and gave him a thumping yes. He quoted the popular incumbent chief minister saying "30 years of mediocrity cannot erase thousand years of excellence !!". It might be noted that during last three decades has seen Bihar plunge in deep recess.
Also state secretary Mr NK Singh won applause from everybody sitting around.It was argued that first time voters from Bihar had talked about development issues rather than caste loyalty. Statistically speaking mostly a huge voter turnout always benefits the ruling government, an indication of people showing confidence in the administration.
With lots of positive vibes in air I got down in Bhagalpur on Nov 1, which was a polling day. Elections in Bihar are different from the rest of the nation. Anticipating trouble the markets are closed, educational institutions are shut sine die, and even private vehicles are seized for movement of security personnel. 6 phase of polling in Assembly elections might seem security overkill, but owing to Maoist challenge, private armies and local goons this was a necessity.
This time I also got a chance to travel by roadways extensively and this is when I could sense some real change. Its surprising that so far Bihar lacked a functional state transport corporation and people were happy to see BSRTC back on roads afer a decade of non existence. Law and order situation has considerably improved and prosecution rate has gone up tremendously. People were relieved that even dreaded places like Siwan, Jehanabad and Munger guns are silent. The autowallahs took pride in saying that roads were excellent travel time is drastically reduced.
Nitish has his share of critics too and people in Bihar are very observant when it comes to political subtleties. I want to quote here another self proclaimed political analyst. "Law and order is fine as the major bahubalis are busy minting money on road contracts and over two lakh unemployed youth have been pulled in for "sarva siksha abhiyaan" or state police". Thus the state has gone ahead with mantra "if you cant fight them join them". This observation is rather simple, direct and hard to contradict. The trickle down theory that everything falls into place if there is good governance at top, does not entirely hold true, as corruption permeates all levels.
However people take respite in the fact that for the first time in over two decades plan money is actually being disbursed. With the mammoth level of state expenditure corruption in backward state of Bihar is inevitable. The gains made in last five years are hard to ignore and the new government which will assume power after Nov 24 will have large shoes to fill in. Regardless of which political party gains control, it should be able to build on these achievements and hopefully next five years will be dedicated to installing proper checks and balances while keeping the growth story intact.
