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Keys Issues in Bihar Ahead of Assembly Elections
September 12, 2015
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In 2010, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
won the Bihar assembly elections in the name of development. He had
successfully showcased the achievements ever since he had become the chief
minister in 2005. In spite of its caste-ridden fabric, Bihar had voted him to
power. His victory was no fluke as between 2004–2005 and 2008–09, Bihar’s GDP
had grown remarkably by 11.03%, which made it the second fastest growing
economy in India during that five-year period after Gujarat (11.05%).
Much changed in the last five years.
Development took a back seat as Nitish’s jugglery for his own political
relevance took over, particularly, after his ego clash with Narendra Modi that
led to him snapping ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2013. Modi,
subsequently, became the Prime Minister in 2014, and his phenomenal rise has
made Nitish scurry for cover and that is all too obvious in recent times.
First, he resigned as CM taking moral responsibility for his party and the poor
showing by Janata Dal (United) at the Lok Sabha elections. Later, he promoted a
Mahadalit, Jiten Ram Manjhi, as his successor. Thereafter, he compelled Manjhi
to quit and again returned as the CM. The developments upset Manjhi, who deserted
him to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Having lost his clout
over the 15% mahadalits in the state, he desperately joined hands with his
one-time friend-turned-foe, Lalu Yadav.
Rising
Cases of Crime
The biggest issue this elections is
whether the coming together of Nitish and Lalu will indeed have any impact on
the voters! The BJP has been quick to sense a political opportunity here and
termed it as return of Jungle Raj in Bihar. Lalu’s detractors termed his rule
as “jungle raj” because of phenomenal rise in criminal activities and
kidnappings between 1990 and 2005 in the state.
You may also like to read
- Bihar Elections Schedule 2015
- List of Polling Booths in Bihar
- Tussles Over Seat Sharing Ahead of Bihar Assembly Elections
Obviously, unbridled crime is a
major poll issue in Bihar. Statistics reveal that criminal activities have been
on the rise in the state in recent times. Around 200,000 cognizable offences
were registered in Bihar in 2014, which shows a rise of 42% over 2010. In fact,
crime against women in Bihar is one of the highest in the country. In 2014,
15,000 cases of crime against women were reported in the state. Between January
and June 2015, the state saw a 65% rise in rape cases! In 2014, 1127 rape cases
were registered in the state, which was 41% higher than that in 2010.This meant
that on an average, three women were raped every day in Bihar in 2014!
Similarly, the government also
failed to check cases of riots that saw an increase of 80% between January and
June, 2015. Even theft and burglaries peaked in Bihar with 22,888 and 4,674
cases registered respectively in 2014. To top it all, while between 2005 and
2013, 10,000-12,000 criminals were convicted every year, only 8,000 criminals
were convicted in the last two years.
Backwardness
and Other Issues
For a state second only to Odisha in
backwardness, Bihar does have many pressing issues to be addressed. They are
all related to the very basic requirement of society, be it the issue of
education, health and hygiene, women’s issues (including their health and
security), unemployment, crime, civic infrastructure, electricity or even
potable water and so on.
Politicians
Raking Up Non-issues
Yet non-issues that don’t have much
to do with the development of the state are being raked up by politicians this
election. They are largely political in nature and at best could be termed as
diversionary tactic to avoid discussing real issues. Consider how the Nitish’s
‘DNA’ incident eclipsed all other burning issues that the state is grappling
with. The row was initiated by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who found fault with Nitish’s political DNA at a rally in Muzaffarpur in
August. This was a calculated ploy by Modi to create an impact just before the
elections. He set an agenda forcing Nitish Kumar to respond. Nitish fell into
the trap and made a mountain out of a molehill by making it a prestige issue
for Bihar only to eat the humble pie as Modi cleverly assuaged the Bihari
sentiments by articulating that “People of Bihar are the most intelligent
people on earth” at a rally in Bhagalpur on 1 September.
Like Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi,
Nitish has been trying to make the Bihar elections as a ‘Nitish versus Modi’
affair. However, rising crime graph, unemployment, floods and droughts, have somewhat
weakened his credentials this time.
Unemployment
and Lack of Industrial Development Plague Bihar
As it is, Bihar has the highest
number of educated unemployed youth in the country. The state contributes only
about 1.5% to the industrial development of India (compare this with Tamil
Nadu’s 16.6% , Maharashtra’s 13.03% and Gujarat’s 10.17%). According to the
Annual Survey of Industries, Bihar had only 3,345 industries at the end of
2013. Moreover, of 12.9 million persons engaged across the Indian industry,
Bihar, with 116,396 people, accounted for less than 1% of the industrial
workforce of the country!
Despite being an agrarian economy,
its average agriculture growth between 2005-2014 was just 4.31% (Source:
Planning Commission). Though this was higher than the national average of 3.97
per cent, states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Puducherry, Rajasthan,
Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Tripura were well ahead of Bihar. Poor industrial as
well as agricultural infrastructure have led to massive unemployment.
With agriculture recording 3.7%
growth, according to the Economic Survey 2015, and no major industries in the
state, providing employment to the young population could be the real challenge
for whoever wins the upcoming elections. Much is being made out of Nitish
Kumar’s statement made about three years ago,“I will not ask people to vote for
us in the next state assembly polls if we fail to provide electricity to each
village in Bihar by 2015”. The Opposition has been pointing at the poor power
position in the state to remind Nitish of his “promise”. The BJP has been
focusing on “change’ and has brought out its “parivatan (change)” rath yatras
in different parts of the state in recent months to connect with the people.
Tussle
Between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi’s special package of
Rs. 1.25 lakh crore to Bihar has certainly been a talking point in the state
and clearly stumped the chief minister, who all these years had been demanding
a special status for the state. Ruffled by Modi’s special package, he announced
his own development package of Rs 2.70 lakh crore – “This is not like the
package the prime minister announced. We will get funds for these projects and implement
them as soon as possible.” To this, Modi quipped, “They ridiculed my package
but realised in two-three days that people have seen through their game. So
they were forced to announce their own development package…Nitish Kumar is
cheating the people…” Nitish, though, claimed that “We will get funds for these
projects and implement them as soon as possible”. He is also eyeing the youth
and he has announced student credit card scheme worth Rs. 4 lakh for any
student who passes class 12, and an unemployment allowance for youth between 20
and 25 years.
Issues refuse to die in the murky
waters of Bihar’s politics. On the one hand, politicians are promising moon to
win votes, and on the other hand, caste-considerations have their own
arithmetic. Consider how Lalu Yadav sought to evoke the Yadav sentiments in an
election rally in Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan recently!
So, who cares for the real issues?
It is like a cocktail of caste, crime, cash and claims to trap the votes. Isn’t
this a winning combination? The voters will tell.
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