Dear friends,
I am forwarding a write-up on Dr. Vashistha Narayan Singh which was
circulated in NOBA (Netarhat Old Boys Association) yahoo group.
Thanks,
Arvind
From: Shankar Kumar <cool_friend0@...>
Dear NOBA Members,
Although I am not from Netarhat, but I am sending you this mail, because I
think that you will be interested to know about the current situation of one
of the greatest students of Netarhat.
This is a mail with a difference and with a request to all of you. Request
to give some time to read this mail because generally people don't give much
attention to such mails. This is just for your awareness to this burning
topic.
Being Indian Citizen we have some fundamental rights and some duties towards
our country. One of the greatest duty is protecting our heritage. Hertitage
does not mean only our Monuments, Culture, Music, Cuisine, and art only. It
also consists our great people.
I would not like to talk about politicians or our freedom fighters, bcoz
that's not my point. I will focus on masterminds of Science and Technology.
• Dr. C.V. Raman (NOBEL LAUREATE)
• Dr. Hargoving Khurana (NOBEL LAUREATE)
• Dr. J.C. Bose (NOBEL LAUREATE)
• Dr. Vikram Sarabhai
• Dr H.J. Bhabha
• Satyendra Nath Bose
• P.C. Ray
• Birbal Sahni
But do you know about Dr. Vasistha Narayan Singh. Who is the the greatest
Mathematician alive. Who travelled a lot in journey of his life from a
typical undevloped villagein Bihar to USA, village primary school to
Netarhat, Science College Patna and then University of California, Berkley,
the life of name and fame to the life of mental disturbance and poverty. The
mathematician who challenged works of Great Scientist Albert Einstien. It
was related to his Theory of Relativity(E=MC2).
Yes it's a matter of shame for all Indian's. I'm providing a little amount
of information about him because not much informations are available on net
about this great Mathematician.
http://www.bhojpuria.com/people/vnsingh1.htm
His Village - Basantpur,(12 Km. from ARA), Bhojpur, Bihar
Family - Poor Family, Father Constable in Bihar Police.
Class X - Netarhat Vidyalaya - Gold Medallist in his passing year
Class XII - Science College
He is the record holder for Bihar Board in Matriculation Examination and
Bihar Intermediate Education Council for Intermediate Exams Sciene College.
In earlymid 1960s Bihar College of Engineering Patna, was in much better
shape and world class faculty members used to visit the College. There was
some Mathematics Conference in Bihar College of Engineering in 1963/ 64/ 65/
66 where Prof John L. Kelley, HOD University of California, Berkley(UCB) as
also present. He had presented a list of 5 most difficult problems in
Mathematics or so. Vasistha Narayan Singh solved all of them and that too in
different ways.
This Berkley professor got impressed and requested him to come to Berkley
for further study. Vasistha Narayan Singh told him that it would be
difficult for him to come to US on his own. HOD promised all the help and
kept the word. HOD arranged for visa and flight ticket and got him into
UCB.He took good care of Vasistha Narayan Singh at UCB as Vasistha Narayan
Singh is a shy person.
Vasistha Narayan Singh did not let down HOD and did his Ph D with style and
went on to work for NASA. His Ph. D Dissertation Title was : Reproducing
Kernels and Operators with a Cyclic Vector.
Following is the link of web page of UCB(Berkley) stating details of his Ph.
D in 1969.
http://math.berkeley.edu/index.php?module=mathalumman&MATHALUM_MAN_op=sView&MATH\
ALUM_id=1148
In the meantime, Family was asking him to come to India and get married.
Vasistha Narayan Singh had nationalistic dreams and thought of doing his
matribhoomi, Bharat, proud; rather that stay on in US as his HOD and NASA
wanted him to do.
Please note that 60s was the time of great Social and Student Unrest in USA
as Vietnam War and Hippy/LSD Movement was at its peak. UCB was the
headquarters of this movement and drugs were commonly used to expand
consciousness! (Watch Forest Gump to get some idea)
Beetles also a product of this generation though they started in UK but
became big in US.
It was rumoured that He had an affair with the daughter of his HOD at UC
Berkely and wanted to marry her but parental pressure and idealistic dream
of doing India proud took precedence and he came back to India.
It is also rumoured .that he had started taking some drugs when he was in
Berkley and it continued when he came back to India. He came back and his
parents got him married to an Army Officer's Daughter with some good dowry.
This army officer was from Jaipur. Due to reasons unknown, marriage did not
work out and his wife left him(family problems were the cause) to never come
back to him. This left him heartbroken and made his condition worse.
He returned to India and worked at ISI Cal, IIT K and TIFR Bombay. He had a
tough time at ISI Cal and was disillusioned at other places also. Soon after
that, He lost his mental balance and was admitted to Mental Hospital, Kanke,
Ranchi. But, Dr Jagannath Mishra got him out of Kanke as he had to get some
other person admitted there, in the VIP ward.
He suffers from Schizonfrania. He has been treated by NIMHANS Bangalore also
but not much details are available. His family did not have enough money to
support his treatment and Bihar Govt threw him out of Kanke which made his
condition worst.
Lets us try understand the situation of Dr. Vasistha Narayan Singh. He has
been suffering with schizophrenia. To understand this disease and to
understand cure of this disease, you must watch the film "Beautiful Mind".
Dr. John Nash presently a professor at Princeton Unieversity had the same
disease.
Medicational help is not much of help in this diesease. He need a proper
environment to come back to normal life. Age is also a factor in recovery. A
proper nutrition and life long medication can re-vitalize his life. But he
needs a research related assignment and academic environment to be normal;
besides having a loving family. Mentally, he is still living in the age of
20-30, though he may be 60 + as of today.
He was untraceable for many years when he fled away from during Journey to
Banglore for treatment, until someone from his village saw him as a
ragpicker in Chapra in mid 90s and informed his family.
His elder brother and others went to cross check the facts and went to see
him. They were happy to see him alive but were sad to see his misery.He was
brought back to his village in late 80s or early 1990s. There was a crowd of
political bigshots and I think, Laloo was also one of the leaders to have
gone and met him. Bihar govt had promised to send him to NIMHANS, Bangalore
and I think that they did send him. I do not know whether any support was
offered after the media stopped following the story.
Even he was not in limelight since a long time. We got attention by a News
in Dainik Jagran of his felicitation of Bank of India Employees
Association(ARA).
For details of his current situation visit this Link.
http://www.bhojpuria.com/people/vnsingh1.htm
Note :- Informations provided in this mail are taken from several sources.
main source is my mails in BIHARI Yahoo Group.
Thanks to Saroj Ji(sarojbihar@...), Kundan
ji(kundan_civil2000@...), Mr. Kartik Sahay USA(ktk@...) and Bihari
group(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bihari).
And special thanks to Sudhir ji (www.bhojpuria.com) for his excellent
initiative towards this work.
With Thanks & Regards
Shankar Kumar
Nuurrie Media Limited
442, The Ashoka, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi-110021
Ph. No. 011-24101995
---------------------------------------------------------
As in the old movies, pirates rummage through everything until they find a crumpled map to the treasure. They put their heads back and guffaw.
Well, in Bihar the BJP may have likewise rediscovered a script for future hunts. Not even the ardent BJP enthusiast had expected the party to improve from 37 seats in a House of 243 in the February elections to 55 on Tuesday.
That is the central column in the new political reality of Bihar. This is ironical because, on the face of it, it has been Nitish Kumar’s election and without the JDU’s 88 seats, Laloo Prasad Yadav would not be so limply sprawled on the canvas, knocked out.
The script the BJP has rediscovered
was the one written by Nanaji Deshmukh of the RSS and his friend, Ramnath Goenka, in the early 1970s. They resurrected a semi-retired Jayaprakash Narayan to become a rallying point. The comparisons are not exact because the global and the national picture have changed, the social churning in Bihar (and the Hindi belt) is of another order, there are no charismatic figures like Indira Gandhi and JP around. On the contrary, the only charismatic figure in the proceedings has just been trounced — Laloo Yadav.
Despite the fact that a different set of circumstances attended the JP movement 30 years ago, the script which the backroom boys in the BJP have spotted deserves to be looked at.
In 1969, Indira Gandhi split the Congress. The syndicate, ejected from the fold, was in ideological harmony with the authors of the JP movement. Morarji Desai, a pillar of the syndicate, led the Janata government in 1977. The Janata government was, in a sense, a consequence of JP’s movement.
Remember, also, the two stalwarts who selected Desai as PM? Acharya J.B. Kripalani and JP — two arch socialists. Indira Gandhi had shown the door to the party’s right wing (by the Congress split of ’69), and had begun to lean on the Communists. The Soviet influence on New Delhi was at its peak. The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 was with Soviet help, bringing the US Sixth Fleet into the Indian Ocean. The external factors operating on Indian politics were powerful.
One aspect of the JP movement was to wean Indira Gandhi away from the Left. A series of incidents, not least the Allahabad High Court judgment unseating Indira Gandhi, facilitated the game. This case against Indira Gandhi was assiduously fought by Raj Narain, another arch socialist who derived his anti-Congressism and even more bitter anti-Nehru/Gandhism from the late Ram Manohar Lohia. So, the Janata Government of 1977 was a combination of the BJP (then Jana Sangh), Socialists and the syndicate.
Let us
see how the script in BJP-JD(U) hands today bears resemblance to the one the combination held in the ’70s. What is in the process of being welded in Bihar is the BJP-Socialist combination which won 144 seats. The upper caste Congressman is directly or indirectly supportive of this idea, tired as he is of the status reversal and misrule suffered under Laloo raj.
As in the ’70s, the Congress dependence on the Left, to keep the power tripod (Congress, Left, RJD plus) in some balance, is considerable. But there is no external support to this arrangement after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Every trick in the book will therefore be tried to weaken the Left’s West Bengal citadel in the forthcoming elections.
The reason why the long-term potential in the BJP and Socialist combination may begin to look fanciful is because Bihar (UP, too) is so fractured into castes that an abrupt switch from casteism to any decent ‘ism’ may not be possible. If the upper caste Ranvir Sena
can be persuaded not to retaliate for the assault on Jehanabad by the Naxals, mostly lower caste, some glimmer of hope may be discernible. Indeed, if the casteism of the upper castes is replaced by a return to the state by the upper caste pool of talent which had left Bihar during Laloo rule, prospects of development will improve.
There is another factor Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will have to gauge. My guess is that Muslim participation in electoral politics has declined after the en masse defection to caste formations in Bihar and UP in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition. In 15 years, the Muslim sees neither Laloo nor Mulayam Singh Yadav as “his” leader. Both served Yadav interest disproportionately. It is only the spectre of the BJP which enthuses the Muslim vote to scramble in the opposite direction. This fact alone is what Laloo will place store by for the next round. How can he be a secular messiah for minorities without an obvious Hindu ogre looming?
Bihar, the UP local bodies election, and Volcker Report have occasioned no demonstrable strategic thinking on the part of the Congress. It is small comfort that reversals in a state will not effect the stability of the UPA government. This is true, but only in the short run. Arithmetic works in politics. But numbers can sometimes be deceptively reassuring. Changes like the one in Bihar set into motion a chemical process less prone to control.
In Patna, Congressmen told me that going with Laloo was a disaster. Suppose the party had fielded 200 candidates, surely some would have cut into BJP’s upper caste support! Finally, the CPM and CPI are at each other’s throat in Bihar. This quarrelling band is supposed to present coherence in New Delhi. For how long?
Pay too much attention to vote arithmetic, poll punditry and you miss the election’s most important message
Politics in India is in grave danger
of being trivialised by yet another factor—psephology. If every electoral verdict were to be reduced to simple arithmetic, it would not only become dull and predictable, but also irrelevant. True, the psephological indicators in the Bihar result are clear and significant. Laloo nearly retained his ‘MY’ combination of votes but was bested because the so-called Most Backward Castes joined hands with the so-called most forward castes. But why did they do so? Why did they so decisively junk one who wasn’t just a self-styled messiah of the poor but also largely acknowledged to be so by our vast community of pseudo-socialists and political pundits. It is in this spectacular swing of the Most Backward Castes towards a grouping of allegedly the most forward — though the number of below-poverty-line Brahmins in Bihar or just the number of Brahmins among the Bihari rickshawallahs in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk would raise some questions over that description—that the real message of this Bihar
verdict lies. It goes way beyond psephological arithmetic, has a great relevance not just to the political future of Uttar Pradesh but also for the power balance at the Centre in the coming years.
Could it be that this Bihar election marks another watershed in the political history of the Hindi heartland just as Mandal and Mandir had done in 1989-1990? Is the voter in Bihar telling us that the ‘use-by’ date on Mandalite casteist politics is now over as indeed it is over on Hindutva? In a politics frozen for nearly 40 years after Independence, backward caste assertion and Hindutva were two history-changing ideas from two great practitioners of the politics of that period, V.P. Singh and L.K. Advani, respectively. In this election, V.P. Singh has seen the brightest star of his Mandal politics thrown by the wayside. And Advani in a reverse irony celebrates his own party ceding political primacy to an ally of the backward castes, along with whom the party has won the election
without ever daring to mention the word ‘Hindutva’.
It may be early days yet but in the afterglow of this election, you could afford to be an optimist and hope that these twin demons of casteism and communalism have been defanged to an extent in the Hindi heartland. Or at least it marks the beginning of that process. The question obviously is, which new idea replaces these? For that we have to get back to Bihar.
The
bulk of Laloo’s Muslim and Yadav voters may have still backed him out of their fear of the BJP and caste loyalty, respectively. But if the poorest and the most downtrodden have moved away so spectacularly, it could only signal the arrival of yet another upsurge of social justice. Only this time, it goes beyond the old idea of caste.
HAVING acquired a voice against traditional upper caste domination and tyranny over the past 15 years, the poorest Indians are now expanding the definition of social justice and taking it to a higher, more evolved level. This is what led to the wave that got the Congress out of the west central states in the winter of 2003 — bijli, sadak, paani. To this the people of Bihar have now added padhai and naukri (education and jobs). This Bihar election, therefore, marks the arrival of an aspirational wave in the most backward Bharat where no more than 12 per cent of infants are immunised at birth, where birth rates are higher
than the most backward countries of the world, and where per capita income is one-third of the national average and even one-sixth of some of the richer states of India. The voter in Bihar is defining for all of us a welcome new notion of empowerment in India’s political heartland: social equality combined with religious tolerance, security, and economic upliftment and opportunity. Shouldn’t it be reasonable to believe that this very welcome infection will inevitably spread to UP as well?
True believers of ‘social justice’ politics will again argue that this is wishful thinking. They will draw comfort from the fact that even following the political upheaval of 1989, the voters in the two neighbouring states followed very different paths. Mulayam and Laloo never succeeded in making any impact on Yadavs outside of their own respective states. Similarly Mayawati’s appeal with Bihar’s Dalits is even less than it is in Maharashtra or Punjab. So if Bihar was such a sui generis case
that even while accepting the larger ideas of caste-based social justice and aggressive secularism, sharpened by its implicit anti-upper caste energy, the voters made a choice peculiar to their own political landscape, why should you expect their new mood to influence UP now?
The answer depends on whether you accept bijli, sadak, paani, padhai and naukri as a new big idea in our politics. I am happy to stick my neck out and say so, not on the basis of any scientific research but on the evidence of three tours of duty in successive elections in the two states.
The mood all over is impatient and aspirational. In these times of live television and easy travel and migration, people are seeing how they are falling behind not just the western world or China, but their own countrymen in better governed states. They are also beginning to see through the self serving nature of the post-1989 politics which rides their insecurities or anger of their past
rather than hold out the promise of a better future.
ONE reason both the national mainstream parties so completely lost their political space in the Hindi heartland is that, confused by the rise of Laloo, Mulayam and Mayawati, they also started playing on their terms. In a decade and a half of this politics of vote division, neither the Congress nor the BJP has put forward an inclusivist, forward-looking agenda. And when the BJP half-reluctantly agreed to join one such under Nitish, the rewards were so remarkable. The BJP was first obsessed with the theological idea of uniting with faith what was divided by caste and, when that did not work, it tried caste cocktails of its own, joining hands with Mayawati in a hopeless alliance or expecting the voters to be fooled by the appointment of a leader as embarrassing as Vinay Katiyar as its chief in UP. As a result, it even lost large chunks of the upper caste vote. The Thakurs went to the Mulayam-Amar Singh combine and the
Baniyas, whose vote in UP is sizeable, drifted into no man’s land — so now you know why Mulayam is holding out on VAT. The result was the party’s destruction in 2004. This ultimately lost NDA an election it always thought to be in its bank.
The Congress has a more complex problem. Its political strategists are unfortunately still of the same vintage as those that cheered on as they made Rajiv Gandhi walk into the serial blunders of Shah Bano and Shilanyas. If the BJP committed the folly of fighting caste with faith, the Congress was its funny mirror image countering minorityism with minorityism. How imaginative for the party with the largest pan-Indian signature! So, fight for Muslim representation in AMU, offer them 5 per cent of jobs in Andhra Pradesh, and of course appoint a Muslim to head the UPCC. All in the hope of the Muslim vote returning to it.
If this tokenism was all that mattered to Muslims, wouldn’t they be better off with Mulayam instead? In the process,
the Congress has also lost all its other voters, barring in the small Amethi-Rae Bareli-Sultanpur enclave. Amar Singh is forever repeating the Congress score in the recent Allahabad by-election, some 632 votes. This, as he points out, in the Nehru-Gandhi hometown.
Both Congress and BJP have to junk these borrowed ideas and move towards inclusivist, positive, forward-looking agendas. For this country’s politics to find a centre of gravity, these two parties must have at least 350 seats between them in Lok Sabha. Only then can we have meaningful governance. And it is only possible if they draw the right lessons from Bihar. A resurgence of hope and aspiration in the Hindi heartland is an event to cherish and celebrate. Use it also as the beginning of a new centrist, inclusivist and optimistic politics that may just be the big idea to fill the vacuum as Mandal and Mandir decline and fade away.
Does this election signal a roll-back of Mandal? Or has Bihar’s social churning just deepened? Who are the Extremely Backward Castes?
Posted online: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 0000 hours IST
Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan was the grand setting for two coronations on Thursday last. Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in as Bihar’s new chief minister was the story of the day. But intimations of the second crowning were drowned in the extravaganza of the first. Of the 25 ministers sworn in along with Kumar in the first go, as many as four belonged to the Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs). Two members of these castes found place in the Cabinet and two were sworn in as ministers of state.
It has
been a long and arduous trek to centrestage for the EBCs in Bihar. They are the Kahars, Dhanuks, Kumhars, Lohars, Telis, Tatmas, Mallahs, Nais, Noniyas, Kevats and Paneris — about 108 castes in all, with no individual segment an overwhelming presence like the Yadavs.
Though they make up almost 32 per cent of the state’s population,
until recently the popular narratives of Bihar politics did not even take the EBCs into account. In spite of being socially and economically marginalised, they were not paid any special lip service either, like the Dalits or the religious minorities. They were subsumed without trace in the undifferentiated category of the Other Backward Castes.
The story within the story of the rise of backward castes in Bihar has been this: while the upper backwards — Yadavs, Kurmis and Koeris — rode the Mandal wave into the political spotlight and stayed there, the lower backwards or EBCs languished in the ill-lit peripheries of power structures.
There are accounts of how in the early part of his tenure as chief minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav tried to outmanoeuvre his powerful opponents and establish his own claim to power by promoting several lower backward caste leaders, like Rameshwar Rai (Amat), Puncham Mandal (Dhanuk), Rabindra Kumar (Tanti), Ramdev Bhandari (Keot), Jai Narain
Nishad (Mallah). He also upped their quota in government jobs from 10 per cent in the Karpoori Thakur formula (Thakur himself belonged to the EBC) to 14 per cent and after the division of the state, to 18 per cent.
But EBC representation in the legislatures did not grow in the way that the representation of the upper backwards did. There was no EBC representative in the 1962 Bihar Vidhan Sabha. In 1967, of the 82 backward caste representatives, only 5 were EBC. Between 1967 and 1985, there were a maximum of 7. There were 6 EBCs in the 1990 Vidhan Sabha; that number leaped to 16 in the 1995 Vidhan Sabha. In this election, there are 19 EBC MLAs — an all-time high. But this time the EBC headcount in the Vidhan Sabha is an imperfect measure of their influence. It doesn’t tell the full story.
Though these castes still lie scattered across constituencies, and though they still lack a common agenda or articulate leadership, there is a visible increase in the influence they
exert on the political game in the state. Some would trace the process of change to the panchayat elections held in Bihar after 23 years in 2001. Shaibal Gupta of the research center ADRI in Patna, counted out the number of EBCs elected either as mukhiyas (3.9 per cent) or as members of the zilla parishad (3.5 per cent) and detected larger stirrings: ‘‘This election has thus revealed that they no longer want to remain as electoral fodder of the upper backwards, and would like to be at the helm of different power centers. For the first time, they have tried to forge a pan-lower-backward alliance at different levels. Their success in the Panchayat election is certainly not spectacular, but their presence in the power structure has at least become noticeable...’’ wrote Gupta.
In this October-November election, the EBC story began with a never-before political mobilisation centred around them. Laloo, Nitish and Ram Vilas Paswan, each chief ministerial wannabe was ostentatiously
seen next to an EBC leader in his helicopter campaign. All three parties, JD(U), RJD and LJP, hosted EBC sammelans in Patna—again a first. Laloo issued a slew of newspaper advertisements proclaiming his special sensitivity to EBC concerns. Nitish Kumar told this newspaper the EBC vote would be crucial in the election results. And it was.
Contrary to the exaggerated rumours of his political demise, Laloo did not suffer an erosion of his vote base. If 78 per cent Yadavs voted for RJD in the February polls, the figure actually rose to 81 per cent for the Congress-RJD alliance in the October-November polls. In the Muslim vote, the comparable figures are even more opposed to the trends of popular storytelling: 42 per cent and then 70 per cent (figures from the CSDS survey and the HT-IBN survey).
What changed from February to November was this: there was an unprecedented consolidation of upper caste vote behind the JD(U)-BJP combination — from 49 per cent in February to 71
per cent in November, according to the above mentioned surveys. But given their small numbers, that by itself would not have been enough, had the EBCs not pitched in with a never-before consolidation behind JD(U)-BJP. The data shows that EBC consolidation behind the JD(U)-BJP rose from 24 per cent in February to 50 per cent in November. The comparative rise in EBC consolidation behind the RJD was meagre: from 24 per cent to 29 per cent.
Why did the EBCs vote as they did? The answer to that question holds the key to the verdict perhaps. It may also hold some crucial suggestions for CM Nitish Kumar. As he gets down to address the magnificent challenges of his new job, he might consider this: Chances are, given their scatter, the EBCs did not even vote as a self-conscious caste. Their vote will have to be explained far more painstakingly. It may cast a responsibility on Bihar’s new government that is more demanding than a rote enactment of the well-worn rites of identity
politics in the state.
FIFTH COLUMN Good riddance, but road all uphill ahead TAVLEEN SINGH
Indian Express, Nov.27,2005
Last week provided us with a rare moment of hope in politics — the defeat of Mr and Mrs Laloo Yadav. No defeat was more deserved, more reassuring for those of us who remain recklessly optimistic about the future of Bharat Mata despite the abysmal quality of our political class. But, even abysmal has degrees of abysmal-ness and if we looked for its nadir we would find nestled at rock bottom Mr and Mrs Laloo. They are perfect examples of the kind of politicians India does not need. Their politics reminds us of a time when divisions of caste and creed were so much our only reality that even our better political leaders were forced to use these divisions to get elected. The Congress Party still does as we saw from the list printed in this newspaper of their Bihar candidates. Not only were they identified by caste but by their sub-castes. Shame, shame, Soniaji. But, whatever the flaws of the Congress Party, and there are many, they pale when compared with those of Laloo and Rabri.
Bihar was far from perfect in pre-Laloo times but there were norms of public behaviour, aspirations to ethical standards, accountability at least in some measure. The most obvious example of how things changed under Laloo is Rabri herself. It would have been impossible in earlier times for a Chief Minister charged with corruption to hand his job over to his semi-literate wife and openly rule on her behalf. Impossible for him to continue winning elections despite this outrage but Laloo manipulated caste and ''commnal phorces'' better than anyone else and managed to keep Muslims and other backward castes fooled a lot longer than they should have been fooled.
So what now? Bihar's institutions of governance, law and order, education, healthcare and development are in such a state of ruin that Nitish Kumar is going to need more than good intentions to bring about change. The only glimmer of hope in the ruined state he inherits is that he can initiate radical changes more easily than if the structures had been intact.
He has mentioned law and order as his first priority and it should be if you keep in mind that nearly half the state's districts are in the grip of Naxalite terrorist groups. If he is serious about changing this terrible state of affairs he would need first to tour the police stations in these districts and personally examine the conditions in which policemen work. Once he has finished this tour he needs to appoint somebody like K P S Gill to create a special anti-terrorist force to deal with the problem. If he thinks that the average Bihari policeman can do the job he will be making the same mistake Laloo Yadav did for 15 years as Leftist and casteist terrorism grew and grew.
He has talked of infrastructure development as one of his top priorities and again it should be but the task before him is monumental. Other states have bad roads but as someone who travels much in the wilds of rural India may I say that I have seen no other state in which there is almost not a single, proper road. Laloo Yadav did not build any because he believed that roads were only for rich people. It is a convenient Leftist lie because the truth is that what you really achieve by not building roads is forcing wretchedly poor people to continue living in wretched poverty.
On the electricity front the situation is so bad that enterprising, jobless young men in Bihar's smaller towns make a living out of alternative power supply. They buy generators and use them to supply bazaars and other consumers with desperately needed electricity. Again, Nitish Kumar needs to innovate and seriously start decentralising generation and distribution so that towns and villages find ways of generating their own supplies. Without privatisation it is hard to think how the state can meet the demand.
If he manages to deal with basic infrastructure problems it would still only be a beginning. He would then have to get down to building schools — Bihar's literacy rates are half the national average — and building the state's non-existent public health services. Then there are the jobs that Biharis need so desperately that they travel to distant states in search of the most menial work.
So, although the defeat of Mr and Mrs Laloo is a moment of hope it is only a small hope because if Nitish Kumar's government fails to make radical changes we will be back to questions of caste and creed and if that happens Bihar has had it. The rest of India will find it increasingly hard to wait for it to catch up.
Lessons in Bihar, for vanquished and victors SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI Indian Express, 27th Nov.2005
Despots don't learn the ways of democracy easily. Laloo Prasad Yadav, whose party's 15-year misrule turned Bihar into a byword for backwardness and lawlessness, had been dethroned in February itself. Although the elections held then had produced a hung Assembly, its outcome was unambiguous. RJD — and its allies Congress and the CPI(M) — had lost the mandate to rule Bihar again. But, misusing their power at the Centre, they dissolved the Assembly and illegitimately prolonged their reign through the proxy of a pliant and thoroughly discredited Governor. The illegitimacy of all this was pronounced by the Supreme Court. In the end, it took a decisive and deafening mandate of the people in the second round of Assembly elections, with a massive 10 per cent anti-incumbency swing, to put an end to this disgrace to democracy.
What has been defeated in Bihar is not only the RJD-led alliance, but also the pernicious philosophy that it stood for. Its proponents — Laloo Yadav, Sonia Gandhi and Sitaram Yechury — believe that secularism, as they define it, must take precedence over democracy at any cost. To keep ''communal forces'' at bay, the Congress and the Communists condoned the worst form of malgovernance in Bihar. To Laloo himself, secularism became a license for corruption of governance, criminalisation of politics and for practicing casteism and minorityism (the so-called MY or Muslim-Yadav combination) of the most degenerate and divisive kind. Such was his arrogance of power that, through all his frequent visits to jail on corruption charges, he continued to rule the state by making his wife the surrogate chief minister. We have known of Panchayati Raj becoming ''Pati Raj'' in some villages after the introduction of 33% reservation for women — that is, male politicians using their wives as fronts to keep real power in their own hands. Laloo elevated this to the state level.
Given the magnitude of the JD(U)-BJP win, it is no doubt a positive vote for liberation of Bihar from Laloo's Jungle Raj. However, the people of Bihar have scripted a message not only to the vanquished, but also to the victors. For the victorious NDA, the main lesson is that the alliance in Bihar, unlike the one at the Centre, is led by the JD(U) and not by the BJP. This has great significance for the evolution of anti-Congress politics in India in the coming days. The BJP had to keep its ''Hindutva'' appeal scrupulously out of its election campaign. I know of local BJP leaders in Bihar who used to urge the central leadership not to speak about ''Hindutva'' issues in the campaign. I also know of several Muslim activists from Bihar who used to say: ''If the BJP focuses only on governance and development, we are prepared to work for the victory of the JD(U)-BJP alliance.'' The fact that a significant section of Muslims in Bihar voted against Laloo this time shows that they refuse to be yoked forever to a particular party for the defense of ''secularism''.
Can the pattern be any different in parliamentary elections, whenever they are held next? If the BJP wants to continue to lead the anti-Congress alliance in the country, it has perforce to stick to the NDA agenda. Which means: it must keep equal place for every section of our diverse society in its scheme of politics and governance. Further, it must consciously strive to reach out to Muslims. If it shuns the NDA agenda, its allies will desert it, and India will see the emergence of a third front or conglomeration, with the BJP itself isolated to the third position. Thus, the Bihar verdict poses highly inconvenient questions and options before RSS leaders who smugly insist that the BJP lost power in May 2004 because the Vajpayee-Advani leadership abandoned ''Hindutva'' and are now claiming equally smugly that they are satisfied that the party is slowly returning to its ''core ideology''. If the BJP, in its current state of turmoil, abandons the Vajpayee-Advani line and chooses instead to toe the RSS line, there is little doubt that it will weaken itself further in state after state. It will also have little chances of leading a government at the Centre again.
The Bihar verdict also has a lesson for Nitish Kumar, the new chief minister. He and Sushil Kumar Modi, his deputy, face enormous challenges as they try to turn Bihar around. Both are battle-hardened. Both have a clean image. But both, and the parties they represent, must now stay focused on good governance and Bihar's rapid development. The Centre, too, must fully assist Nitish Kumar in reviving Bihar from its ravaged state, not yielding to the temptation of discrimination against a state that could herald a new political development at the national level. After all, if Bihar bounces back, who can stop India from surging ahead?
This was an election in Bihar in which its voter's voice could be heard, loud and clear. But a sprawling commentariat has already taken over, feverishly decoding for you and me what the Bihari people really said. If you want to take a break and hear from Bihar again, in its own voice and in a language truly its own, no translation required by pollster or pundit, you might go back to Phanishwar Nath Renu.
Many place Renu's Maila Aanchal next only to Prem Chand's Godan. He went against the current of literary writing of his times. Before him, the language of the novel was one the people didn't really speak. Renu changed that. He was the pioneer of ''aanchalikta'' or regionalism in Hindi literature. He handed over the viewfinder to the backward and the deprived long before Subaltern Studies announced itself a separate discipline.
Of course, none of that sensitivity to ground level stirrings came in useful at the hustings. Renu stood for elections as an Independent candidate in 1972 from Forbisganj constituency in his home district of Araria. He lost.
For more recent and more prosaic renderings of Bihar, you would have to begin with Arvind N. Das's Republic of Bihar. This book came before the Laloo phenomenon dug in. But it helped set out the contours of that ''dark hole'' in the nation's imagination, to which capitalism so spectacularly failed to bring modernity. As he put it best, in Bihar, it ''merely combined the worst of agrarian pre-modernity with post-industrial post-modernity.'' Das returned to Bihar with a social history of his village, Changel.
Vijay Nambisan's Bihar is in the Eyes of the Beholder was published at the end of the Laloo decade in Bihar, in 2000. Nambisan took time off to live in a small town 100 km east of Patna. His wife had come to serve as a surgeon at the missionary hospital in Mokama Ghat. From Mokama Ghat, carved out between rival gangs of Bhumihars, he sought answers: how is it that this state, so rich and so fertile in its land, became so impoverished a home for its people, where even democracy denies more than it empowers. And yet, he wrote, democracy remains the only hope for equality and progress.
For a terse update in facts and figures of where Bihar is at, after decades of de-institutionalisation and underdevelopment, look at the World Bank report, Bihar: Towards a Development Strategy. It insists that the problems of Bihar may be well known but they are not well understood. It insists, also, that its main message is one of hope. Amid the generally morbid stats that speak of stasis, under-coverage and leakage — net primary enrolment actually fell over the '90s, access to improved sanitation barely changed and Bihar has the country's lowest utilisation rate for centrally funded programs — it reports on the many successes of the profitable Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd (COMFED) and its litchi industry which accounts for about 70 per cent of India's total production.
In the wake of Biha elections, a number of articles have appeared on Bihar. Sending a few of them.
Rajesh
Hello, Mr Hope
Manini Chatterjee
Indian Express, 27th Nov.2005
Turning around Bihar is India's ultimate challenge. Manini Chatterjee previews Nitish Kumar's opportunities — and possible pitfalls NO one had given a call for a rally — or ''railla'' for that matter. No one had demanded their presence. No buses and trucks had ferried them for the occasion. But from early morning on Thursday, November 24, thousands upon thousands of ordinary people trekked to Patna's Gandhi Maidan to witness the swearing-in of Nitish Kumar at 12.45 pm.
The joy and fervour of the crowds, overshadowing the presence of NDA leaders who had flown down for the occasion, was certainly heartwarming for Nitish that afternoon. But their hope of a new dawn must have been equally frightening. The NDA rode to power in Patna this past week on the crest of a wave of yearning, an almost desperate longing for change — not just a change of government but a change of the system itself. And Nitish, Bihar believes, is the right person to bring that about.
But turning around Bihar's economy and tackling its caste-ridden complexities is an awesome challenge for anyone — and Nitish's much touted administrative skills, remember, have so far been tested only in the far more salubrious climes of Delhi.
The one thing going for Nitish is that everyone regards him as the very antithesis of Laloo Prasad Yadav. Although they were buddies in the JP Movement, they had very different personalities. Laloo, old timers say, was always the performer with absolutely zero appetite for the nitty-gritty. Nitish, on the other hand, was the disciplined man, patiently carrying out boring assignments.
Recalling those early days, Sharad Yadav says, ''The party projected both of them. Nitish sincerely did the tasks given to him. Laloo did not. He did everything — sing, dance, crack jokes, pose before his animals, entertain his visitors — except work for the people.''
SENIOR bureaucrats are also setting great store by Nitish's ''sincerity''. Soon after taking oath, the new chief minister held a closed-door meeting with top officials. He told them there had been three abiding myths about Bihar — that free and fair polls could never take place; that caste polarisation could never allow political change; and that the state's turnaround was a pipedream.
The first two myths had been broken. Over the next five years, he was determined to destroy the third as well.
But can Nitish Kumar, the ''systematic'' politician — heading a disparate coalition of competing castes and conflicting interests — solve the ''systemic'' crisis facing Bihar? That's a tough question to answer. All we can do is outline the challenges before him.
Bihar's rule of flaw THE biggest challenge of them all — and everything else follows — is to re-establish the rule of law in Bihar, to make the common man feel safe and secure once more. And for that, the new government has to break the criminal-politician-bureaucrat nexus that has existed in the state since the late 1970s and has flourished over the past decade or so.
As D.P. Ojha, former DG, Bihar Police, points out, ''Crime is the root cause for Bihar's lack of development. Ganglords belonging to different parties have carved out the state among themselves, and control its economy.''
An estimated 50 big ''dons'' who ''employ'' over 10,000 henchmen have had a free run. They have two principal methods of ''collection'' — through control of public expenditure (cornering all government contracts and siphoning off as much as 70 per cent of funds allocated for any project); and through ''direct crime'' (kidnapping for ransom and rampant extortion).
If the first puts a brake on developmental projects, the second makes the common man live in perpetual fear.
Crime happens everywhere and the criminal-politician nexus is not just a Bihar phenomenon. But over the years, politicians have ceased to control criminals — whom they have used for booth capturing and sundry other ''political'' tasks — and criminals have come to control politics in Bihar. And both politician and criminal in Bihar have flexible loyalties, moving from one party to another with perfect ease.
HAVING won a huge victory, Nitish has managed to keep out the known bahubalis — Munna Shuka, Anant Singh, Manoranjan Singh Dhumal — from his ministry. The NDA government, insiders say, has also given instructions to its own ''dons'' to ''subdue'' the smaller fry responsible for the petty crime that makes life hell for the common man.
But these cosmetic changes are not enough. ''If Nitish is serious about good governance, he must proceed against the criminals who have been operating with impunity. Action must be taken and seen to be taken,'' says Ojha.
Nitish's immediate post-poll sound bites — that he will not ''dig up'' old cases and take action only against those who break the law in the future —are disquieting.
There are hundreds of cases against criminals pending in trial courts (36 against Shahabuddin, the RJD MP from Siwan, alone) that have not reached conclusion because witnesses were too afraid to testify, and prosecution lax. If the government means business, special prosecutors must be appointed, witnesses must be guaranteed protection, and trials speeded up.
''A policy of forget and forgive will mean the government is not serious about ending crime, it will dash the immense hopes regime change has engendered,'' a senior official said."
Economics meets empowerment
NITISH, as he wrote in his ''India Empowered'' article in The Indian Express on November 23, believes it is time the rest of India focused on Bihar's development, for its own sake. If Bihar continues to be bottom of the heap, it will bring down India, he insists.
But in order to attract private investment, or even effectively use Central funds, he must establish the rule of law. Given Bihar's rich natural resources and human talent — non-resident Biharis fuel the economy in many parts of India — development is not an empty dream. It is intimately linked with law and order.
''Nitish has said he will end crime in three months. If he makes sincere efforts and achieves that goal even in three years, development is bound to follow,'' a Bihar officer says.
NITISH has promised to end the politics of takrav (conflict) and usher in an ''all inclusive society''. But unlike other parts of India, where caste comes into play only at times of elections or when scanning the matrimonial columns on a Sunday morning, caste identity in Bihar remains rooted in quotidian reality.
Empowerment — both in terms of social dignity and material opportunity — is still linked to one's caste affiliation. And the big story of this election is not the eclipse of caste (even though anti-incumbency transcended caste more than in previous years) but the emergence of a new caste grouping — the Extremely Backward Castes.
The ''forward'' castes are happy with the end of Laloo raj and the less politically astute among them might regard the NDA victory as a return of their rule. But Nitish (and Laloo) know their future lies in getting the allegiance of the EBCs — who have moved out of the shadow of the more powerful OBCs represented by the Yadavs, Kurmis and Koeris.
But the aspirations of the EBCs — traditionally artisans who own no land and can no longer sustain a living by pursuing their caste occupation — will be difficult to meet without an economic revolution. Their demand for a share of post-Mandal power, cornered so far by the ''upper'' OBCs, is likely to fuel more tensions within the ''backwards'' — in addition to animosities between agde and pichhde that have marked the state's politics for decades.
No Hindutva please LALOO'S big boast in the February election and this one was his ''riot-free'' record. True, Muslims may not have gained much materially, but they felt safe under his rule. With the BJP sharing power for the first time in Bihar, will that record be broken?
Although bloody communal riots are unlikely to break out as long as the M-Y alliance holds on the ground — Yadavs, once the sword arm of the upper castes during riots, have become the protectors of Muslims — the conflicting ideologies of the BJP and the JD(U) could cause tensions.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya feels it is only a matter of time before Hindutva forces assert themselves in the state: ''The BJP is very upbeat and will definitely try to use Bihar for its revival in the Hindi belt, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Their decision to steer clear of ideological issues during the election was a tactical ploy. But the language of their advertisement (that Bihar had become a paradise for Bangladeshi infiltrators and ISI agents) revealed their anti-Muslim prejudice.''
Nitish disowned that advertisement, and is keen to emerge as the protector of minorities. That is an ambition at odds with his dependence on an assertive BJP. The glue of power may keep the JD(U)-BJP alliance going, but reconciling the fundamental ideological differences between the two outfits — which Nitish never fails to underline — is certainly another difficult challenge before him.
Turning around Bihar is India's ultimate challenge. Manini Chatterjee previews Nitish Kumar's opportunities — and possible pitfalls
Rescue Nitish from the NDA LALOO Prasad Yadav may have lost power but he still retains his political acumen. His first remark after acknowledging defeat was significant: ''Main Nitishji ko vyaktigat roop se badhai deta hoon; but not the BJP.'' The last four words stated forcefully in English.
That one sentence, followed up by some warm comments about Nitish Kumar and the challenge before him, had several nuances — aimed at both his partners in Delhi and his people in Bihar.
Weakened by his defeat in Bihar, Laloo needs the Congress more than it needs him right now. And Laloo knows he must retain the rapport he has so far enjoyed with Sonia Gandhi. And the way to Sonia's heart is to be stridently anti-BJP.
The RJD, thanks to Laloo's consistent fight against the BJP (unlike other UPA partners who were once with the NDA), will remain a valuable ally for Sonia because she can count on it to be ''secular''. Laloo sought to reinforce that impression after his November 22 defeat.
But more important, his praise for Nitish and disdain for the BJP is part of a strategy to drive a wedge between the coalition partners once the new government settles down.
Laloo is shrewd enough to know that Nitish has managed to draw the support of a large section of OBCs, EBCs, and even Muslims and some Yadavs this time. He could not have secured the mandate he has on the strength of the upper castes and Kurmi/Koeris alone.
At this moment, he does not want to alienate these sections by hitting out at Nitish. His line during the election campaign was that Nitish was a ''stooge'' of the upper castes. By praising Nitish, he has chosen a different tack. The new line seems to be: Nitish is a good man, he is an innocent man, he is one of ''us'' — but can he stand up to the might of the upper castes?
And can he — dependent as he is on the BJP — safeguard the Muslims like I did?
Before the results were out, Laloo was confident that the NDA would not win a majority because he did not think the ''poor and backwards'' would be foolish enough to fall into the ''upper caste trap''.
Now that the unthinkable has happened, he is waiting for the unnatural coalition to come apart. And will do everything to exacerbate the nascent conflicts inherent in this coalition.
AFTER 15 years in power, Laloo Yadav — one of India's foremost mass leaders — had turned into a larger than life persona, a television icon with a filmstar-like fan following even beyond India's borders. Somewhere along the way, he lost touch with his people.
But Laloo, like Indira Gandhi, is a natural politician, a mass leader of the old school. Nitish, Laloo himself pointed out this week, has a huge challenge before him — much bigger than the one Laloo faced.
Laloo only had to keep the backwards happy by promising them swar (voice). Nitish wants to keep everyone happy in a polarised polity where one caste's happiness can still mean another's misery. And he has promised swar as well as swarg.
Those promises will be hard to keep, and having Laloo in the opposition might prove far more lethal for Nitish than Laloo's (mis)rule by proxy. No wonder Laloo has been heard referring to Indira Gandhi's famous elephant ride to Belchi — the ride that eventually brought her back to power after the 1977 defeat.
UP, Bihar are problem states: UNAIDS report
TOUFIQ RASHID
Posted online: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 0145
hours IST
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 21: Densely populated Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar have evoked global concern as far as
AIDS is concerned. In its report on Global AIDS
Epidemic update released in India, UNAIDS today
expressed fears of even a ‘‘relatively minor
increase’’ in HIV transmission having a cascading
effect in these states.
Though NACO said prevalence of the disease in the two
states is still very low, UNAIDS has expressed concern
as the states are ‘‘poor and densely populated’’. The
report said Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra, where more than one per cent population
was infected, have showed some stabilisation in
results.
The issue is important as out of the 40.3 million
people infected with HIV-AIDS, 5.13 million are in
India. UNAIDS concern doubles, as one quarter of
India’s entire population lives in these two states.
However, the data showing these two states as having
very low prevalence as compared to the national
average is being seen with distrust.
UNAIDS executive director Dr Peter Piot, who was in
India for the launch of the report said that the two
states need to be studied extensively in the context
of migrant population and poor infrastructure. ‘‘How
is that the migrant labourer who lives in a high
prevalence place like Mumbai doesn’t infect his wife
when he goes back home? This needs to be studied
further,’’ said Dr Piot.
While government officials claimed that the data
collection is as good as in any other state, UNAIDS
regional office in Delhi disagreed.
‘‘Current surveillance is not up to the mark in these
states. There are very few sentinel sites from where
data is collected,’’ said Dr Denis Brown, Country
Representative UNAIDS, India.
The data is collected from sentinel sites which are
ante-natal and STD clinics and drug de-addiction
centres. UP has 17 sentinel sites at ante-natal
clinics, while Bihar has eight ANCs.
‘‘In each of the sentinel sites the data is collected
from ante-natal clinics from pregnant women but we
know that in these states nearly 80 per cent of
deliveries occur at home. So the data is collected
from few privileged women and has definitely a class
bias,’’ said Dr Brown. ‘‘The accuracy can be trusted
in southern states were nearly 80 per cent deliveries
are institutionalised.”
__________________________________________
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In the words of a former prime minister, when a big tree falls the earth shakes a little. And Bihar strongman Lalu Prasad Yadav' ringing defeat at the hands of his former associate Nitish Kumar will surely reverberate through Indian polity.
In scale it is no less resounding than the 1977 verdict against Indira Gandhi. In significance it ranks on par with Devi Lal's in Haryana in 1987. The latter win represented the first crack in then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's citadel which at that time seemed invincible. The government of Manmohan Singh, in contrast, stands with its vulnerable points visible to all. Lalu's electoral debacle is bound to lead to a realignment of forces within the framework, which in turn could alter the
pressure points it is subject to.
'Bihar is a lesson to the tainted'
Suddenly, the post-poll arrangement of May 2004 with the Congress as the fulcrum, that seemed secure for five years, appears not so sure. With important state level elections like in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu staring it in the face -- states where the Congress needs to demonstrate more than a token presence -- the message from the voters cannot be starker for the centrist party.
To call it a junior partner in Bihar's Secular Democratic Front headed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal would be a misnomer; it was at best a hanger-on in a state it dominated till not so long ago. In state after state it is a similar tale. In states like Tamil Nadu, it was a conscious decision to withdraw -- to accommodate regional aspirations. In others like Maharashtra, it was a simple bankruptcy of ideas and leadership that led the Congress to its present state.
Maharashtra, in fact,
demonstrates the party's paucity. On one hand it is forced to sup with the politician who set out to destroy it, Sharad Pawar. On the other hand it is bringing in renegades who spent their entire political career working against its ideology. The motive: checkmating the Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray, sure, but Pawar as well. At this rate, it can outsource its political base from its foe turned mascot, Narayan Rane.
Negative vote swing of 0.87pc cost Lalu power
The message from voters is always two-fold. The apparent and the subtle. Bihar's voters have apparently voted for change, which is nothing new. Since the 2004 general elections we have known that the freed genie of economic liberalisation has fanned aspiration levels, which has skewed voter expectations. Satellite television has become the great leveller, equating remote outposts with the megapolis. Thus Ranchi wants to be the new Patna, which wants to be the new Kolkata, which wants to be the new Mumbai,
which wants to be the new New York, and so the expectations keep rising. The outsourcing boom, in which minor towns are major players, is another factor fuelling this surge for better life.
Bihar was the last man standing in this mad rush, Lalu Yadav and his homespun politics the final barrier. But it was a battle he would have lost anyway. The vote against him is widespread in the state, but look at the vengeance in which the Patna metropolitan region has acted. In the February election the Rashtriya Janata Dal won 11 out of 43 here; now its tally there has plummeted to 6.
It is on a scale in which the cities voted against the National Democratic Alliance in 2004. They are the first to taste economic freedom, and they want more, and the countryside wants the same as their urban counterpart. This is an endless cycle, one that no politician seems able to withstand.
West Bengal can go the Bihar way if polls are free: BJP
Will Mulayam
Yadav be able to stem this march in UP? Or Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu?
Once upon a time, the Congress was a harbinger of change; today it stands consumed by the very change it wrought in 1991, when Manmohan Singh, then finance minister, opened the doors to the economy. The hidden message from Bihar is for all politicians: to deliver. For the Congress, it is a message of doom.
The federal government it leads in New Delhi is built on negatives. As the periodical outbursts from the Left parties show, there is nothing in common between it and the major blocs that support it, never mind the Common Minimum Programme. What the CMP has done, or the present political arrangement has done, is to confine the Congress party to a small area of influence, while its 'allies' have the run of the nation. To grow to its potential, it must confront its support parties, take over the political space occupied by them; to do so would be to invite certain death of its
government.
Drunk on Bihar, NDA targets Parliament session
To not do so would be to die a slow death, as in Bihar. Or, despite the win in Konkan, as in Maharashtra.
The key to the Congress's existential dilemma, as always, lies in Uttar Pradesh, whose strongman Mulayam Singh is not part of the United Progressive Alliance despite having more members of Parliament with him than Lalu Yadav. It is here that the Congress's decline began; it is here that the Bharatiya Janata Party's ascent began. It is here that the final battle for India's political supremacy will be fought.
But before taking him on the Congress will have to get its hands dirty in states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, states where it has little chance of making headway, as things stand.
Left-UPA deal softens Lalu's defeat
But Mulayam is nothing if not shrewd. Despite not being part of the Congress set-up in New Delhi, he has kept his lines to
the Left intact, as evidenced by their joint call against India's moves on Iran. Will the communists sacrifice him, when he is such a critical part of their plans to contain the Congress's sphere of influence?
When things come to a shove, the Congress will do well to remember the message from Bihar. It can either play second fiddle in the states and remain stunted, or go it alone and try to grow. Party president Sonia Gandhi will soon have to start earning her salary
Bihar economy in dire straits: Report
Subodh Ghildiyal
[ Friday, November 25, 2005 01:33:26 am, TIMES NEWS
NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: Bihar's fiscal position turned alarmingly
weak while its performance was poor in road and
education sector.
The findings form part of the annual plan review of
2004-05 where the state failed to meet targets of
expenditure and works. The fiscal situation is weak to
such an extent that it is impossible for it to raise
loans from the market.
That has put its share of Accelerated Irrigation
Benefit Programme (AIBP) in the risk of
non-implementation. Bihar has sought to be exempted
from the revised guidelines of AIBP which say that
states should raise loans through market borrowings.
Bihar has requestedto be treated as a special case and
that the Centre continue with the previous norms of
giving 70% loan component, at least for schemes
included in AIBP or planned to be put under it.
The review concurs with the state's view as it was a
fiscally weak state and Centre's endeavour was bound
to fail which will hit the progress of the projects
under AIBP.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) works fell
behind for many amusing reasons and their
implementation, done through the state agencies, had
to be taken over by the Centre.
The reason was that there was a shortage of engineers
at the levels of junior engineer, superintending
engineer, chief engineer and engineer-in-chief in
rural development.
Also, there was a lack od of qualified eligible
contractors who had a financial capacity of over Rs 1
crore and could execute work in 6 to 9 months.
Also lacking in contractors was technical competence
and experience. Due to slow progress on Phase I and
II, the work on Phase III and IV is now being done by
ministry of rural development through NBCC, NPCC,
CPWD, NHPC/IRCON. Seventeen packages of Phase I and IV
which include 63 roads costing Rs 26 crore have been
given to MRD.
Educationally, the state has abysmally low literacy
figures. It has the most number of districts — 14 —
with female literacy rate between 20% and 30%. The
state has the lowest female literacy rate in the
country at 33.57%.
The performance under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan too
was lax with the state not supplying textbooks
regularly and completing only 14 of the sanctioned
schools out of 2469.
It, however, crossed the target under edcuation
guarantee schemecomponent of SSA. Bihar could use only
29% of the money under National Food for Work
programme launched in November 2004.
While the February elections were a reason for not
taking up new works after notification, officials do
not agree with the reasoning for such a low
consumption of money.
The state created 54.96 lakh mandays in the 15
districts under the NFWP. Only Rs 77.78 crore of total
available Rs 264.12 crore was spent.
Sources in the government said that six of the 15
districts could not spend 60% of the funds which made
them ineligible for receiving first instalment of the
next year.
__________________________________
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Nitish Kumar, do thank Sonia
T V R Shenoy
Rediff.com
November 25, 2005
When in doubt, go with your gut instincts.
The Congress ignored that wisdom at its own peril in Bihar, and just
look at the results. The decline in the party -- which had an absolute
majority in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha as late as January 1990 -- becomes
painfully clear when you compare it to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The
BJP now has 55 seats in the Vidhan Sabha, while the Congress couldn't
put up candidates in more than 55 constituencies.
And, I won't embarrass the party by citing the number it actually won,
unable even to make it to a two-digit figure.
The story of the downfall was written almost one year ago.
Knowing that elections to the Bihar assembly were in the air, the
party discussed a report on the state. The conclusion was absolutely
unambiguous: Bihar contains more anti-Lalu Prasad Yadav than pro-Lalu
Prasad Yadav voters. If the electoral battle were conducted on
polarised lines, the Rashtriya Janata Dal stood a snowball's chance in
hell of returning to power. The same fate would meet any party stupid
enough to be seen as his ally.
The Congress's problem was that it could not afford to spurn Lalu
openly. He has 24 members in the Lok Sabha. If that were added to the
Left Front and the Samajwadi Party, the Congress would be at their
mercy.
To avoid an open break while simultaneously building up its own
shattered base in Bihar, the Congress hit upon using Ram Vilas Paswan.
It was a simple arrangement: Paswan would fight the RJD everywhere but
not oppose the Congress anywhere.
With Lalu officially committed to supporting the Congress, it seemed
to be a win-win situation. Lalu would be cut to size, without the
National Democratic Alliance coming to power in Patna.
The result belied all the Congress' calculations. Lalu slumped, but
the Congress was so closely identified with him that it went down with
the RJD. The NDA, which should have been wiped out going by the Lok
Sabha polls held nine months earlier, increased its strength. The
saving grace was Ram Vilas Paswan, whose 29 MLAs seemingly tipped the
balance against the NDA.
Paswan, however, was in a fix. He wasn't the master of a party, but
the temporary chief of men who had only one thing in common -- that
they were all against Lalu. Many of them were Bhumihars, a caste
irrevocably opposed to Lalu.
The rest is history.
Lalu pressed for President's rule, both to humiliate Paswan and to
prevent Nitish Kumar from forming a ministry in Patna. With the Left
Front behind Lalu, the Congress had no option but to go along. This
had the unintended effect of tying the Congress even closer to the RJD
in the minds of a Bihar electorate that was irrevocably opposed to the
RJD boss and his family.
That does not, however, solve the Congress's real problem, which is to
revive the party in states where it is moribund.
Uttar Pradesh is the country's largest state by far; the Congress is
irrelevant there. Maharashtra is India's second-largest state; the
Congress chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, lives at Sharad Pawar's
mercy. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh each send 42 MPs to the Lok
Sabha; the Congress has been out of power in the first since 1977, and
has just returned to power in the second after a decade in the
wilderness. Tamil Nadu, with its 39 Lok Sabha seats, has not had a
Congress chief minister since 1967. The BJP holds Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh, and a Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition is into its second term
in Orissa. Karnataka has a Congress chief minister, but his plight is
even worse than his Maharashtra colleague, thanks to H D Deve Gowda.
And, the Congress is all set to lose Kerala in 2006.
West Bengal can go the Bihar way if polls are free: BJP
Take a look at the map of India. Point out all those states that elect
at least 20 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In how many of those states is the
Congress in a position to form a government on its own?
Sonia Gandhi's response to that question was to seek out allies. But
the Congress has yet to learn the first lesson of coalitions: that you
cannot gain strength by weakening your allies. The Congress tried to
be too clever by half, trying to regain lost ground by weakening Lalu.
In doing so, it convinced the anti-Lalu forces that salvation could
come only through the NDA.
Today, the Congress has the worst of all worlds. It is stuck with
allies it can neither spurn nor embrace. And in trying to build up its
own strength by weakening allies, it has handed Bihar over to Nitish
Kumar.
The new chief minister's residence will undoubtedly be flooded with
bouquets. Shouldn't he send some of them to the woman who made it all
possible, Sonia Gandhi?
Behind Nitish Kumar's triumph
Editoria, The Hindu, 26th Nov. 2005
From Chief-Minister-in-waiting to Chief Minister, it has been a long
roller-coaster ride of despair and hope for Nitish Kumar, once bosom
pal and now arch rival of the strongman of Bihar, Lalu Prasad. The
Nitish-Lalu pair burst on to the political scene together. One became
a Chief Minister, a real political character; the other missed his
chance once too often. Coming from backward caste origins, both spoke
the language of Mandal. But they were strikingly different: one loud,
charismatic, and proudly rustic, and the other soft-spoken,
uncharismatic, and consciously understated. Over the next decade and
more, Mr. Prasad emerged as India's most enduring symbol of secularism
and social justice. At a superficial level, Laluspeak was the engaging
banter that, by turns, fascinated and exasperated the world. But to
Mr. Prasad's loyal constituency, this was the political idiom of a
new, awakened era. So overpowering was the Lalu phenomenon that a
falling out of friends became inevitable. Unable to strike out on his
own and dogged by an identity crisis, Mr. Kumar chose to hitch his
wagon to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This was a watershed in Indian
politics: it marked the beginning of the legitimisation of Hindutva
and the BJP brand of sectarian politics. The discomfort was evident in
the early years, and indeed Mr. Kumar would describe the alliance as a
marriage of convenience. But the bond proved viable and productive.
Mr. Kumar's Samata Party mutated, evolved, and finally merged with the
Janata Dal(United).
The Nitish-BJP alliance frequently came under strain. Pundits
speculated a reunion between Mr. Prasad and Mr. Kumar. Yet Mr. Kumar
stayed with the BJP — through the many Ayodhya programmes and the
anti-Muslim Gujarat pogrom. While party colleague George Fernandes
thought nothing of defending the indefensible, Mr. Kumar rarely struck
a politically incorrect note. He threatened the BJP when Hindutva
reared its head; he defended Lal Krishna Advani on the
Jinnah-appreciation issue that earned him the wrath of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh; he even took care to appear Muslim-friendly. Thanks
to this adroit tightrope walk plus a lot of hard work on the ground,
Mr. Kumar succeeded in shifting the focus of the discourse from
Hindutva to development. The strategy paid off: the emphasis on
development blurred the dividing line between the pro- and anti-Lalu
forces. For far too long, Mr. Prasad spoke of social justice without
bridging the gap between word and deed. He would tell his people he
had given them swar (voice) and one day he would give them swarg
(heaven). The wait proved unending. Mr. Kumar snatched his victory
from a regime that, in the public perception, came to symbolise
anarchy and was anti-development. As the new Chief Minister savours
his triumph, he will surely be conscious of the looming presence of a
BJP increasingly driven by the RSS. The party has already had its way
on the appointment of a Deputy Chief Minister.
Posted online: Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 1018 hours IST Updated: Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 1911 hours IST
New Delhi, November 24:
It took Bihar 15 long years to decide that handing the reigns of governance to Laloo Prasad Yadav was one of the biggest mistakes made by it since Independence. His trademark divisive politics, in that time, tore Bihar apart on caste, clan and religious lines, besides junking the economy.
If Nitish, as Chief Minister, is to pull off the kind of political longevity that marked Laloo, then he will have to virtually pull a rabbit out of his hat. And shackling his hands will be not only
the Laloo legacy but also his having to chalk a new route for Bihar. A mission impossible?
Over the years the only one who gained from the process of annihilation of all institutions of state in Bihar seemed to be Laloo himself and his relatives. This was evident even in the first years of his rule as he gave unbridled power to his henchmen to promote parochial interests.
Then what prompted the people to vote for him in every election?
Capturing booths would have accounted for so much, it could never have meant the difference between win and loss (otherwise the Election Commission would have received the boot a long time ago). His rustic charm could have got him a few votes no doubt. Parties like the Congress, when they could not beat him, aligned with him thereby helping themselves to commit suicide to put Laloo on the throne (from rulers, today Congressmen figure nowhere on the who's who of power wielders in Bihar). Some
votes indubitably came from a comprehensive usage of threats and violence against his opponents as well as the voters. But most of his support came from a policy of divide and rule whereby he openly espoused the cause of the Muslims and Yadavs to win votes, to the cost of the rest of the communities, and the profit of Laloo.
None of these were new to Bihar. These ploys had been used before, they are still current in India's politics to win and retain power in every state.
What Laloo did better than anyone else was use these tactics (more applicable to a war-like situation) better. He marshaled his resources like a modern day Napoleon, or is it Nero, before they imploded on him on Tuesday, November 22, 2005.
Bizarre it may be but, no one thought of stopping him. No one knew how. Bihar was too far east from Delhi and too far west from West Bengal. And, on his side was a weak national politics that encouraged regionalism. The previous ruling
party, the Congress was too busy fighting on other fronts to retain its identity to be able to fight back Laloo. It had no charismatic leaders (Rahul was studying abroad or else otherwise occupied by his Latino girlfriend, Priyanka was busy being a housewife and Laloo was burnishing his stature by jailing L K Advani charging on his Rath Yatra).
Ergo, Prime Ministers came and went, Laloo remained.
However, all of these tactics, the very creation of Laloo, came together in the end to successfully dethrone him from power.
Why? There was just so much money that Laloo could throw at his supporters. After all Bihar was a basket case economy. Money was not being generated, jobs were not being created, industries were not being allowed to function. It meant the existence of a dwarf economy and a midget can hardly get you the crores that you need to win elections. No new jobs were being generated, roads, electricity, even water came at a premium. In
other words, in 15 years most of his supporters were no better off as the economy was dying.
There simply was not enough money to go to every one of Laloo's supporters. They abandoned him in droves as it became clear that Laloo could not enrich them. Even Muslims and Yadavs, the backbone of his party, defected to Nitish and BJP. The Most Backward Castes (32% of populace) had already shown Laloo the door as they remained as poor as they were a decade back.
And, worse, Laloo stayed and stayed in power.
If Laloo could not be ejected from there, the enlightened Bihari voted with his feet, he walked out of his home and hearth to any and all parts of the country. In fact, for a Bihari any place was better than Bihar to earn a honest buck.
The surprising thing is that it took so many years for Laloo's political and economic machinations to drive Bihar to realise he was chasing it into penury.
His vote bank gave Laloo 15 years
and when he could not deliver, they dropped him like a hot potato.
The Nitish Story
Where does Nitish go from the no-man's Laloo-land Bihar?
The wily Chief Minister has said good governance will be his top priority. Does that mean he will unleash the cops against lawlessness? Does it mean he will empower the bureaucrats? Will it be a babu raj? Will his party JD(U) force the state into their version of Laloo's Bihar?
Flashback to 2004. Sonia Gandhi won the general elections and made Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India. The best thing that happened to India was that Sonia did not become the PM. Not because she was a foreigner. But, for the reason of not having any idea how to rule India, or what the country needed. In other words she knew virtually nothing on how to effect progress in India. To her credit, Manmohan did.
But what of our Nitish. Is he a good administrator? Does he know
how to grow Bihar economically?
He was the Railway Minister in the BJP-led Atal Behari Vajpayee administration. Did it empower him enough to put, in his words, Bihar 'back on its tracks'?
A lesson in Manmohanomics is a must, if Nitish is to get a passing grade in 5 years' time.
Prime Minister did not announce a witchhunt against corruption (let the IT department play cops 'n robbers with 'em). He did not put the screws on any babu to behave, or else. Indira Gandhi did that, Rajiv did it, V P Singh did that, but to hardly any avail. Charan Singh let it all pass (water under the bridge), Deve Gowda slept through it, I K Gujral exhausted himself in being a nice guy. Vajpayee borrowed a leaf out of PM Rao's book and forwarded the policies of Manmohan Part I (1991 and 1996).
Manmohan, on the other hand, did nothing of what his legendary, if not illustrious, predecessors did. He did not look back, only forward. He vaulted over it all,
going beyond the past to script policies that grabbed the economy by the scruff of its neck and carried it kicking and screaming into the future (with the people of India smiling ear to ear).
But where is Nitish to get a Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram or even a Montek Singh
Ahluwalia? As with these gentlemen, Nitish has merely to look, he will find them. India, and Bihar, is full of good, honest and most of all intelligent people.
But before he anoints them as rulers, he will have to empower them. And that means giving up his own authority and privilege, command and control. His hegemony in Bihar will have to be watered down for Bihar's sake. He alone can do that.
If that happens Bihar will get the better of Punjab and Gujarat even.
Currently (2003-04), Bihar's per capita income is Rs 3,707. Net State Domestic Product is Rs 32,347 crore and growing at 5.3%. Population in poverty numbers above 40%.
If Nitish
Kumar is to emerge a champion in half-a-decade then they will first have to ensure that the common Bihari becomes a winner. And that means growing the economy.
Manmohan Singh has put money in India's pockets and said go spend. Nitish will have to get cracking to do the same for the penniless Bihar. It is time, but comes the hour, cometh the man?
Yahoo! Personals Single? There's someone we'd like you to meet.
Lot's of someone's, actually. Yahoo! Personals
The Hindu
23 Nov.2005
Bihar joins the national mainstream
Harish Khare
Lalu Prasad refused to understand that Bihar could not
remain a stranger to the larger process of growth and
development that characterises much of the rest of
India.
UTTAR PRADESH went to the polls in March 2002. The
Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in Lucknow and New
Delhi. The country had been whipped into a frenzy,
especially after the December 13, 2001, terrorist
attack on Parliament House. L.K. Advani was playing
sheriff in New Delhi. In Lucknow, the incumbent Chief
Minister, Rajnath Singh, had banned the Muslim outfit,
SIMI, and was threatening to put in place a POTA-like
law if voted back to power. On the other hand,
Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Vishwanath Pratap Singh
were predicting that the National Democratic Alliance
regime in New Delhi would collapse after the BJP got
routed in Lucknow. Both believed Mulayam Singh Yadav
was the ideal instrument to lead the secular offensive
against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the event, the BJP lost but that was about it.
After a few months of President's Rule, the BJP joined
hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party and installed
Mayawati as Chief Minister in Lucknow whereas Atal
Bihari Vajpayee went on to complete his term at the
Centre.
This little bit of recent history is recalled in the
context of the Bihar election outcome. Just as a BJP
defeat in Uttar Pradesh had no bearing on the last Lok
Sabha, the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-CPI(M)
combine's debacle cannot possibly have any
ramifications for the United Progressive Alliance
Government at the Centre. Just as the 2002 U.P. defeat
lent a degree of coherence to the Vajpayee Government,
the 2005 Bihar defeat can only have a salutary effect
on the UPA partners and friends who have of late
developed rather complacent mind-sets. In any case,
the Bihar verdict is not a licence for the NDA to
instigate disruption in the polity.
Is there anything in the latest Bihar vote that can be
construed as distracting from the raison d'etre of the
UPA at the Centre? Nothing, indeed. The vote is not at
all an endorsement of the BJP's brand of aggressive
Hindutva. It should be kept in mind that in Bihar the
BJP is not a senior partner in the alliance with the
Janata Dal (United). The BJP did not show its Hindutva
colours at any time; and, Nitish Kumar, the Chief
Minister-apparent, had been careful to distance
himself from any BJP-instigated suggestion of any kind
of calculated hostility to the minorities. If
anything, in recent months the JD(U) has not been
averse to being seen to be in agreement with the UPA
plank of some kind of affirmative action in favour of
the minorities. Whether the Bihar verdict provides Mr.
Advani any elbowroom to linger on for a few more
months as BJP president is between him and the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh bosses. But there is
little comfort in the Bihar vote for the BJP
ideologues.
Is Lalu Prasad's rout a defeat of the secular platform
at the Centre? On the face of it, the vote is a
setback only because the Congress and the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) had chosen to justify their
alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in terms of
secular consolidation. On the other hand, Ram Vilas
Paswan's single-point chant of "Muslim Chief Minister"
denied Mr. Prasad the luxury of painting himself in
secular colours. The secular "card" worked in the 2004
Lok Sabha election because the BJP/RSS/VHP combine
loomed large; by the time the Bihar electorate was
asked to vote a second time in 2005 for the Assembly,
the Hindutva threat was a distant memory. In this
round of electioneering, the RJD itself did not raise
the secular war cry. Mr. Nitish Kumar's decisive
victory will not allow the RJD/UPA leaders to point
accusing fingers at the Election Commission. A narrow
margin would have invited attention to the
Commission's bias. The nature of Mr. Nitish Kumar's
victory should put an end to all arguments as to whose
cause Mr. Paswan helped most and hurt most. Bihar was
ready for a change.
Mr. Prasad got entangled in a politics of preserving a
narrow caste support base, which had nothing to do
with the secular versus communal divide not to speak
of the larger issues of the rulers' obligation to be
sensitive to citizens' needs. He wallowed in a
partisan politics of an extremely self-serving kind,
craftily invoking caste antagonisms to his electoral
advantage. He stumbled upon the winning formula of
combining Yadav consolidation with Muslim insecurity.
Admittedly, Mr. Prasad did not invent caste or the
political usefulness of the caste appeal in Bihar; he
was merely carrying on the traditions and habits
established by the Sri Babus and the K.B. Sahays in
the 1950s and the 1960s. Like the Bhumihars, the
Brahmins, and the Kayasthas, he too finessed the art
of producing legislative majorities based on limited
caste appeals. His politics was relevant to the Bihar
of the 1990s. But he forgot that Bihar was part of a
changing India.
Obviously, Mr. Prasad refused to understand that Bihar
could not remain a stranger to the larger process of
growth and development that characterises much of the
rest of India. Though a considerable section of the
Bihar population opted to migrate out to other parts
of India in search of security and stability, the
majority (most of them poor) had to stay put, most of
the time on Mr. Prasad's terms. But those who stayed
back were not oblivious to the change and growth in
the rest of the country. In these times of
ever-increasing connectivity, the Bihar voter was in a
position to have a fairly good idea of how growth,
development, and governance were changing people's
ambitions and aspirations. This voter could not remain
content with what Mr. Prasad had to offer. What began
in 1990 as a refreshing promise of genuine social
change degenerated in 15 years into crony rule. Nobody
in Bihar was amused when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
chose to bestow the "Vikas Purush" salutation on Mr.
Prasad.
One lesson emerges. No political leader or party can
ignore the obligation to undertake some basic tasks of
governance. A strong, well-oiled party machine helps
electoral mobilisation; an emotional pitch may work
magic temporarily; but the business of democratic
politics has to centre around governance and delivery.
Democratic politics, especially if it insists on
seeking its very legitimacy from the welfare of the
masses, cannot sustain for long a leadership style
that thrives on contempt for the masses and their
minimum needs. In a way Mr. Prasad should be grateful
to the voters for their rebuff; otherwise he and his
cronies would have remained untutored in this basic
obligation.
Task for Nitish
No one knows whether Mr. Nitish Kumar himself would be
able to answer the crux of the Bihar voter's desire
for change. Bihar was always a much divided society
and politicians of all varieties have deepened those
divisions. And these divisions are now sorted out by
private armies. The only course open to Mr. Nitish
Kumar is to summon a higher raj dharma, instead of
getting sucked into numerous demands and intractable
claims of past grievances and vendettas. This would be
a very exacting task, especially because his rivals
and enemies can be relied upon to provoke violence and
animosities. The eruption recently in Jehanabad was a
reminder, if a reminder was indeed needed, that
Patna's writ does not run in large chunks of Bihar.
The benighted State needs a new idiom of argumentation
and a new political culture.
Does the Bihar vote mean the politics of social
justice has run its course in the country? Can, for
example, Mr. Mulayam Singh or Ms. Mayawati persist
with their preference for the caste idiom? This appeal
of caste-based regional parties will continue to find
favour with the voter as long as the national
political parties do not find the leadership and the
vision to tap all-India passions and aspirations. But
it is becoming increasingly clear also that a
family-based political outfit can no longer
appropriate the promise of the politics of social
justice. The voter will reject all those leaders,
political parties and outfits that refuse to observe
democratic decencies and remain indifferent to the
ruler's fundamental obligation to govern, fairly,
firmly and equitably. It would be an outright
absurdity if the NDA crowd or the third-front hopefuls
chose to interpret the Bihar vote as a mandate to
destabilise the Centre. The country is in a
business-like mood and does not want to favour
manipulators at the expense of administrators.
***
Posted online: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 0933 hours IST
Tuesday, November 22: In Bihar's most celebrated festival, Chhat, the participating men, and mostly women, must break their fast in the evening with kheer. But there is an attached ritual injunction: if the believer should come upon any gravel in the dish, she must stop eating and go back to fasting. The lore says the Bihari does not chew, she only swallows.
An uncertain metaphor lurks in that little story from Bihar, and on the day of the poll verdict, this question: will the Bihari swallow again, or will she chew? And, after 15 years of Laloo raj, what is the nature of her choice?
To go to Bihar on poll-eve is to be forced to count the unsavouries that have been swallowed whole for decades. To say there has been a de-institutionalisation in Bihar is not to express it fully. There has been an institutionalisation, in fact, of the distortion and corruption.
You can sense it in the settled hum of the generator mafia in the towns and the accepted routines of genuflection to the local bahubali in the countryside. You hear it constantly in the lack of scandal and the dry humour with which they speak of such things in Bihar. There is an institutionalisation of absenteeism framed in derelict buildings that are the government-run schools and hospitals, and in the flourishing tuition shops and private practices. Petty thuggery has been institutionalised, so also kidnapping for large ransoms.
Migration is a natural phenomenon and it is not just the middle classes who pack off their children before they strike roots at home, nor merely skilled labour that seeks more enabling environments. Bihar cannot hold back its unskilled labour either. On beaten paths, they move from villages and small towns pockmarked with closed mills, abandoned factories and lapsed foundation stones, to pull rickshaws in Patna — perhaps the country's only capital city where the rickshaw is the fastest growing mode of transport — or to fill up trains to other states. The Intercity from Saharsa to Patna is crammed with about 15,000 passengers daily, mostly migrants.
Years of those debilitating habits and routines have taken their toll on the citizen's political imagination. It seemed most glaring this poll-eve, even more than it did during a visit to the state on the eve of the last election in February, in the conspicuous obsessing about local candidates.
In another place, the voter's concentration on the candidate near him could be read as a welcome thing — as a sharper tug at the line of accountability that stretches between the government and people. In Bihar, it spoke of a sad dissembling.
As you moved away from Patna, and from town to village, the political party was a blurring image. Even in Patna, the election was mostly a horse race and the local media preoccupied with studious measurements of the body language of Laloo Yadav and Nitish Kumar. But the diverting buzz around party offices and the routine invocations of party symbols were token reminders at least of the remains of an institution.
The increased focus on the local candidate bares yet another disbelief perhaps — in the power of the overarching political idea and slogan. The last slogan in Bihar, one that straddled the largest part of the state for the longest time, was Laloo's "social justice", with "secularism" added on. Now that idea lies besieged and splintered — by its own limited success, by its many terrible failures.
In a crucial sense, Laloo's contribution is valuable and must be acknowledged to be so if Bihar is ever to move on from its past. Across the state, men and women from the backward castes still stand up and defend the RJD's record by that one irrefutable declaration: "He gave us a voice." But it is also apparent that 15 years later, many in his own constituency are clamouring for more and Laloo hasn't the political vision nor his party the organisational fibre to respond to their demands.
The RJD has been spectacularly unable to coopt or manage the explosion of ambitions among the Yadavs. The panchayat elections held after a gap of 23 years in 2001 threw up an army of half-empowered mukhiyas who wanted to be MLAs. No one party could have satisfied so many ticket-seekers at one go. But had the RJD been more than Laloo's private fief overrun by his family and favoured bahubalis, it may have been able to accommodate these impatient hordes in other ways. It could have tempered their ambitions.
Laloo's inadequacy runs much deeper. He has failed to show his own constituency of Backward Castes and Muslims that empowerment could mean something more than their kinsmen occupying the state. This may have seemed to be the easier promise to make in a state whose capacities to mobilise resources for any form of public development have always been deeply suspect. But it has left the messiah holding an impossibly sagging bag of goodies 15 years later.
Laloo's failure is also that he has been unable to use his rootedness in his own constituency to reach out and become a larger leader. The progressive paring down of his own following, 1995 onwards, underlines just how untouched he is by the skill or imperative of linkage politics.
The irony is, it's not yet done, the process that Laloo triggered and reaped for 15 years, this process that so lost its way. Be it the increasing pressure exerted on the main players in this election by the Extremely Backward Castes — about 108 in all, they make up an estimated 33 per cent of the total population — or the Pasmanda (Backward) Muslim voice demanding a separate hearing, Bihar's social churning hasn't stilled. And the danger is this: if these new assertions are to settle into the old paradigms of social justice, they will also lose their claim to deepening democracy and bringing empowerment.
Whichever way the election goes, the urgent challenge that awaits Bihar's new government is the same: to rescue the notion of social justice from its thinning tatters. To re-energise it by guiding it into more spacious places, from where it can enter into broader social coalitions and partake of larger economic agendas. The challenge is to imbue the vocabulary of social justice with a grammar of good governance.
If the content of news channels is a barometer of popular demand,
then Bihar has simply fallen off the map. No more carpet bombing of
elections: no election yatras, limited studio discussions or sketchy
opinion polls, no constituency profiles, no day in the life of its
leaders. The news managers have decided in their wisdom that what
happens in these five weeks between Bhagalpur and Bettiah does not
really matter anymore to the great Indian public.
To an extent,
the channel tsars cannot be faulted. There are no TRP boxes in Bihar.
Moreover, why would anyone want to watch an election which, to most
observers, seems little more than a tepid re-run of what transpired
just eight months ago.
In the hurly-burly of news, where today's
story is tomorrow's history, revisiting Bihar seems a bit like being
forced to sit through a bad film that one has already seen several
times. The plot and the characters are essentially the same, three
groups of feudal caste armies pitted in a seemingly endless battle with
each other and the same set of criminals seeking to rule under
different banners. Some of the 'bahubali' soldiers have even switched
sides to whomsoever will grant them an election ticket.
Even
Lalu, for years the No. 1 entertainer-cum-communicator of Indian
politics, appears stale. He still cracks the occasional
one-liner (his latest: "Jab tak Lalu hai, tab tak tumhara tv channel
chaloo hai"), but the ability to strike an instant rapport with his
audience is slowly giving way to a growing impatience with his flock
and with the media.
Today, Lalu's fabled rustic charm has been
replaced by an increasing hostility towards an 'upper caste' media. The
Yadav GenNext is a target of his suspicion for fear that they will
desert him for new opportunities. As he worriedly scratches the
familiar hairy earlobes, it's almost as if the pressure of facing one
election after another is beginning to tell on one of the few mass
leaders left in Indian politics.
Even Patna's walking classes
along Gandhi Maidan — often the heart and soul of political debate —
seem strangely subdued this time. More depressingly, few of them
believe that anything will change in Bihar if the Yadav dynasty is
replaced by a new order. The cynicism is overwhelming, and often
justified. Will Nitish Kumar — seen by many as a decent, honourable man
— really be able to provide good governance when he depends on just as
many musclemen for support as Lalu?
And what of Paswan, who
appears to have made his party a haven for anyone with a criminal
record and bagfuls of money? The irony of Paswan screaming about law
and order while sharing a platform with some of Bihar's most notorious
goons, like Rama Singh and Rajen Tiwari, is too stark to be missed. Or
for that matter, the routine recitation of the 'social justice' slogan
by those who occupy permanent luxury suites in Patna's few superior
hotels. As for the incumbent in Raj Bhavan, not even a Supreme Court
indictment will force him to quit the the perks of power.
So is
Bihar at all important for the rest of the country? Should
we give a damn about these elections? Yes, we should. Here's
why Bihar is still crucial.
Forget the grandeur of Ashoka and
the Festival of India brochures about Bihar as the cradle of the
Indo-Gangetic cultural soul. The importance of Bihar is firmly situated
in the present. With a land mass larger than France and a population
more than five times that of Australia, Bihar matters simply because
'size' matters. And size is not just limited to those who live within
the geographical confines of modern-day Bihar. The Bihar phenomenon
includes all those Biharis who have migrated to different corners of
the country. Travel to any major Indian city — Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi —
and there is a fair chance that you will run into someone who can trace
their roots to Gaya or Darbhanga.
All over India, the Bihari
looms large. In state after state, it is the Bihari outsider who is the
focus of social antagonism and jingoist politics. It may have started
with a Bal Thackeray, but today it's not just Shiv sainiks who can be
associated with a strident campaign against the Bihari 'alien'. In
recent weeks, there have been instances in tranquil Goa and Kerala
where Bihari migrant workers, engaged mostly in hard, cheap labour jobs
like road construction, have been targeted by the local population.
But
there is also another side to this out-migration story, which doesn't
conform to the stereotype of the Bihari as a lower-end
labourer or paan-chewing taxi driver. Whether it's institutions of
higher learning like JNU or IIT, symbols of old power like
the IAS and IPS or totems to the new information age like Infosys,
Biharis today constitute one of the largest groups
of skilled manpower in the country.
Indeed, Bihar
today reflects a strange paradox: on the one hand, the literacy rate in
Bihar is a woeful 48 per cent, well below the national average. On the
other, Bihar's demographic profile shows a large population, especially
in the creative age group of 15-34, which is benefiting from higher
education and a sense of social empowerment.
Take another
statistic. Bihar just accounts for four per cent of the
national market with eight per cent of the national population.
However, its foodgrain production is higher than the national average.
Bihar's poverty level remains well above the national average at 42 per
cent. However, annual remittances disbursed by the Patna general post
office alone account for a substantial Rs 1,000 crore.
In other
words, Bihar offers both challenge and opportunity, a challenge to
re-map its development paradigm and an opportunity provided by a large
pool of manpower that has the skill and the energy to compete in the
marketplace. Unfortunately, the complete politicisation of Bihar has
meant that every activity in the state is seen through the narrow prism
of caste and community. Then, whether it's building a road or
initiating an irrigation scheme, it's often the clout of the local
caste leader rather than economic sense that determines the choice of
projects.
What Bihar really needs is a five- year moratorium on
its politics, a period during which the state can be allowed to
rediscover its economic potential. That seems unlikely given the sharp
polarities of its politicians and the durability of caste loyalties,
but it is still no reason to give up hope that the people of Bihar
cannot emerge stronger from the social churning that is taking place.
Or for that matter to condemn or caricature it as a state of criminals
and comedians. Instead of ignoring Bihar and seeing it as a drag, this
perhaps is the time to give it the help and support its people so
desperately need.
As for those news managers in the media who
believe that the Bihar elections are a bore, here's a statistic to
consider: the voting percentage in the first two phases
of the state elections was around 47 per cent. That
statistic is still a higher voter turnout than in south Mumbai or south
Delhi. And that statistic still represents a hell of a lot of people.
Bihar's politics is ugly, it is nasty and it is disillusioning. But
whether we like it or not, it remains an illustration of India's
tortuous, tormented and hideously slow transition to democracy.
In the last century, the British moved the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. That meant the physical transportation of mountains of files and office infrastructure — cupboards, tables, chairs and so on. And, of course, the movement of armies of people — clerks, junior officers and their families. Having been the capital of British India for over a century and a half, the Government of India's offices were staffed, at the lower levels, largely by Bengalis. They were transported from their native Calcutta — or Bengal, if they belonged to one of the many districts of that large province — to the strangeness that was Delhi.
But it took them only a little time to establish themselves. Evidence of this can be traced to the oldest Durga Puja Samiti in Delhi, which still organises an elaborate puja every year: the Kashmere Gate puja, started in 1905. As time went by and more Bengalis came to the capital — teachers, lawyers and doctors — the number of pujas grew and today, we have a very large number of them in virtually every part of the city.
I mention this because events like these are good indicators of the spread of a community in other parts of the country. For example, Mumbai now has almost as many pujas as Delhi. And there are Durga pujas also being organised in Chennai, Bangalore and almost every other state capital. Evidence that a fair number of Bengalis have moved from their state — one can't say how many, since it is said (rather rudely but, sadly, correctly) that if there are two Bengalis in a place, there will be three Durga pujas.
The migration of Bengalis from their state, or province as it was then, was, for one thing, induced by circumstances. The Bengali is a great tourist. He is to be found in the remote Himalayas, swathed in his grandfather's maflar (or muffler, as lesser mortals call it) and monkey cap, trudging along with his wife, mother, father, mother-in-law and children to Gangotri or Gaumukh. But he isn't one to settle elsewhere unless he is made to — and he was made to, partly by the British when they moved the capital to Delhi, and partly because of the need for teachers and doctors. Calcutta had institutions producing these, so they were picked up and sent off to different parts of the country.
But this is not about Bengalis, really, or their spread across the country. That happened quite some time ago, and now such Bengalis as do move to other cities and settle there are no more or no less than members of other migrant communities.
The point is, you can trace, very generally, the movement of communities from the incidence of festivals of a particular kind. One of the most revealing is the increase in recent years of the celebration of Chhath puja in the country.
This is a religious festival unique to Bihar and a few areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Its name is taken from the word for 'six', and is held on the sixth day of the new moon day in the month of Kartik. Offerings are carried to the banks of rivers and water bodies to worship the Sun and Shashthi Mata.
In years past, it was observed with great eagerness and devotion in Bihar as well as other places where traditionally there have been large concentrations of people from that state, like Kolkata. This year, too, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation made special arrangements: ghats were cleaned as soon as Durga puja and Kali puja were over, and special arrangements were made for the safety and convenience of the devotees.
What was very much in evidence, however, was the efforts that were made in other cities to make special arrangements for those who were going to observe Chhath Puja — in Mumbai and Delhi, for example. Clearly, there are many people from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh now in these cities, and indeed elsewhere, as in Bangalore — an indication that large numbers have moved in recent years from these states and continue to do so. This is a development that must give us some cause for anxiety.
That anxiety is not because of a large movement away from that part of the country, but because of the reasons for such large numbers of people moving from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to other states. No one likes to leave his own home, his community of relatives and friends. But home seems to have become, to many, a place of misery, of deprivation and hopelessness.
And it isn't only labourers and peasants who are migrating to cities across the country. Delhi has seen, for the last two decades at least, an influx of students from Bihar, many of them very bright and eager to learn. This is not because Delhi has vastly superior educational facilities, but because it has colleges that actually teach, unlike many in Bihar. Examinations are held in Delhi and results declared. One hears that these are a bit of a farce in Bihar. And while this may well enrich academic discourse in, say, Jawaharlal Nehru University, it impoverishes Bihar.
But no one in that state, or in Uttar Pradesh, seems greatly worried by all this. The fact that workers are beginning to see their state as a place where there is no hope of any change for the better, and that bright young students are moving out because they find the academic system diseased does not appear to make them lose a night's sleep. And the fact is that they ought to be worried, as should the authorities at the Centre.
After almost six decades of efforts to improve the quality of life in the country, Bihar and the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh appear to have slipped further down and now see levels of deprivation, poverty and destitution that are even worse than before. And all the while, in these regions, the population continues to grow at a rate that seems out of control.
Compared to these regions, other states are relatively better off, and of course there is the prospect of good money, comparatively speaking, in the cities.
It is inevitable that, as the country moves forward in time, the levels at which prosperity comes to different states will vary; it will vary within states as well. But these differences cannot be allowed to become too great, because that means a rise in tensions predicated on those differences. It will mean shifts in the population as people migrate in search of work, and that will mean, inevitably, the growth of resentment and parochial hostility. This may evolve into something that destroys the basis of all the development sought to be started and established.
A primary aim must be a relative uniformity in development. And the special problems of some states like Bihar need to be addressed urgently. Recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a raft of projects for the terribly neglected North-eastern states. This is more than welcome. But a similar set of measures is desperately needed for Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Enduring improvements in the quality of life can only come if the population is stable, not restless, and if there is, in the midst of poverty, an element of hope. That hope can bring stability, can reduce the urge among so many to move elsewhere in search of a means of livelihood. How that stability can be brought about is something that needs to be addressed immediately.
********************* For Sonia, the Bihar election isn't just about Bihar. It's about how allies are stealing ground from under her feet ****************
Driving around Bihar you couldn't be faulted for wondering sometimes if finding a Congress flag even in times of election here is about as difficult as spotting a tiger in Sariska. Until you come to Bettiah, in north Bihar, not far from the Maoist belt in Nepal and in the heart of Mahatma Gandhi's indigo battlefield in Champaran. It is one of the rare Bihar constituencies where the Congress has a little bit of a chance. They have been clever. By adopting the independent runner-up from the last election as their candidate, they are hoping to ride his popularity. That is why it is one of Sonia Gandhi's stops. But her tone is almost philosophical. She admits the Congress has lost out a great deal in Bihar and even confesses with honesty unusual for a politician that this could be mostly due to the party's own mistakes and shortcomings. She talks about the Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act and seeks votes for her alliance. Effectively, it amounts to seeking votes for Laloo and Rabri in power in the state.
In what is still India's fourth largest state in terms of the MPs it sends to Parliament, this is not the happiest situation the president of the party leading the national coalition should be in. In spite of the exit polls, she has to take an optimistic view. Both her post-election choices are far from ideal. If Laloo loses she has to absorb the setback. Even if he does not lose, she, her party, and most of all her government at the Centre will be dragged into another round of manipulation, horse-trading and, who knows, even a bit of arm-twisting. Not the kind of situation the Congress would like to be in, punch-drunk as it already is from the Natwar-Volcker episode and just when the final Supreme Court judgment on Buta Singh and the earlier Bihar assembly dissolution is expected.
Congressmen would be justified in arguing they have no other option. This is only one of the many lousy choices they have had to make in today's political situation. In Bihar at least they have an ally, such as it is. But in Uttar Pradesh, they don't even have that prop. Sonia Gandhi and her key advisors are not willing to buy the argument that Uttar Pradesh has now become a bit like Tamil Nadu, with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party being every bit equivalent to the DMK and the AIADMK in that state. There is still nostalgia for times when the Congress held sway over UP. Hence, the disinclination to readily become a junior partner with the BSP, or to at least improve its functioning relationship with the SP. At the same time, none of these people, many with more years in politics than the SP, BSP, RJD, JD(U) and LJP put together, have a solution to offer.
In any case, such alliances in the Hindi heartland are self-defeating for the Congress in several ways. All the caste-based parties, present ally RJD as well as the SP or BSP, should they ever accept an alliance with the Congress, would offer them only crumbs. The reason is explained most candidly by Mayawati, who has told this writer several times that she sees no point in aligning with the Congress when her vote is transferable to her allies and that of the Congress isn't. So while the Congress gets very little in return for these alliances in what were once its own territory, it pays a big price. First, among urban voters, the middle classes and upper castes, it gets tarred with the same brush as Laloo, Mulayam and Mayawati. Second, and more importantly, because it does not have much of a votebank in these states and because its ability to transfer votes is seriously suspect, it has to compensate them by conceding more ground at the Centre.
In the past year and a half, this has caused many embarrassments to the Congress and its prime minister. These include having to carry in the cabinet tainted ministers, even one ducking non-bailable arrest warrants, and the incredible spectacle of two cabinet ministers (Laloo and Paswan) fighting and abusing each other in public. To have Paswan running the ministries of steel and chemicals as if those were his own fiefs and the authority of the prime minister and the discipline of the Cabinet system do not matter does not enhance the Congress's reputation. Ministers from the DMK and its partners have similarly often defied the discipline of the Cabinet.
This is the Congress's biggest challenge and the Bihar election underlines it. Its coalition is essentially different from the BJP's in that practically all its partners are its rivals in their respective pocketboroughs. So the coalition at the Centre becomes an arrangement of convenience rather than a political alliance. At the same time, because the Congress matters so little in many of the states where its central allies are strong, either by way of transferring its votes to them or a share of the political space, the only commodity it can trade is the authority of the Centre.
Regional partners have lost no time in figuring this, so they all succeed in punching way above their weight. The way has been shown by the Left. Under Prakash Karat, the Left is now being audacious enough to demand something no political group has ever done in the history of India's coalitions, namely a decisive say in the Central element of foreign policy making. The new Left approach underlined by Karat is that in a coalition foreign policy making cannot be left to the prime minister and the external affairs ministry.
Certainly, Vajpayee did not have to clear with all his coalition partners before Pokhran II, while conducting the war in Kargil and deciding on policy after the Parliament attack, during Operation Parakram and the subsequent phase of peacemaking. As Sharad Pawar states clearly while speaking to this writer on NDTV's 'Walk the Talk', defence and foreign policy have always been and should be considered consensual and partners in a coalition have to provide space to the prime minister for their conduct. But it is evident that this principle is not accepted in the UPA arrangement.
After all, see it from the Left's perspective. They are keeping the UPA, particularly the Congress, in power only to keep the BJP out of it. They have no love lost for the Congress which contests their political space in all the three states where they matter. So they have no compunction in hobbling its government any which way and least of all when they see it as an issue of high ideological principle. In fact, the more the Congress looks humiliated and helpless, the more ground it concedes under duress, the more supine it seems in its desperation to hang on to power, the better it is for the Left. Sure enough, the other allies have also learnt from this.
In effect then, the UPA arrangement becomes a kind of leveraged buy-out of the Central government by its regional partners: howsoever small our numbers, only these can keep you in power, so you compensate us with whatever price we name.
This arrangement has serious long-term consequences for the prestige and authority of the Congress. The basic question it has to ask itself is, how does it define the UPA experiment? Is it to invest in its future or is it to milk the past for the last few drops of comfort? Most Congress leaders acknowledge these problems but tend to dismiss these as the inevitable compulsions of coalition politics. But it is because their coalition is much more unnatural than the NDA, and because it is so riven by contradictions and antagonisms, that the authority not just of the Central government but even the party leadership is eroding in an unprecedented manner.
The Natwar Singh episode is a good example. In the past a Congress minister — particularly one under a cloud — would never have dared to defy the Central authority even for a moment. In this case, Natwar Singh is not only believed to have openly challenged the prime minister and key party general secretaries, but was bold enough to challenge the basic concept of collective responsibility in the cabinet system. His boast to the media that in case the next resolution on Iran is too tough he would (as external affairs minister) advise the government to reverse its stance is unprecedented — not merely for its defiance but also indiscipline of the kind never seen or tolerated from a senior cabinet minister. In the cabinet system can a key minister actually distance himself from the final decision like this? Can he say, I believe it should be done this way and as a minister I have said so; but if the cabinet in its collective wisdom does something else, don't blame me for it.
The questions of propriety and cabinet discipline that this raises are grave enough. But equally formidable is the political question it raises. Has the authority of the Congress president and the prime minister weakened so much that their foreign minister feels bold enough to publicly distance himself from the central elements of foreign policy and to also publicly canvass for help from one set of allies? So far only the allies were challenging the Central authority. Or perhaps because they were given too much of leeway, even Congressmen are getting tempted to play the same game.
Whatever the outcome in Bihar, once the dust settles on this campaign, Sonia Gandhi and her key advisors have to take stock of this predicament.
Panaji, Nov. 2 (PTI): A village panchayat in Goa has banned Biharis in their village following tussle between them and locals.
Residents from Honda, a village in north Goa with 10,000 population, unanimously adopted a resolution disallowing any Bihar native to stay or work here, said Honda village sarpanch Pandurang Gaonkar.
The village houses Honda Industries Estate, an industrial hub comprising steel rolling mills and automobile units.
"Under presure from locals, the Panchayat Gramsabha had to resolve the issue and ban Biharis," he told PTI.
Though the resolution has "no constitutional standing", it will be adhered to by local panchayat bowing to pressures from villagers, he added.
The rift between Goans and Biharis began last fortnight when two Bihari youths were allegedly assaulted by a group of locals for eve-teasing.
The village got tensed when police complaint was registered and police arrived to arrest local youths.
Villagers gathered outside Honda police outposet and prevented police from arresting locals. Even the outpost was stoned, prompting police to summon extra force, police said.
"We are aware of the situation and have started preparing a list of Biharis and other tanents residing in the village," said Superintendent of Police (north) D K Sawant.
Besides Biharis, the village has natives of Kerala, Orissa and Rajasthan, whose presence has been not objected to by the locals.
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The Supreme Court ruling on the Bihar assembly dissolution is of such momentous import as to lay the foundation for an Indian revolution. Revolution does not mean of course extolling Mao and killing small landlords or ill-paid policemen in remote villages. Nor does revolution mean dreaming of a Hindu-dominated world while killing defenceless Muslims. India's revolution will come when laws are not broken but observed. When the State does not unleash violence but curbs it. When our Constitution is not flouted but respected. And when by bringing in such changes, the corrupt, callow and cruel elite that rules us is either reformed beyond recognition or removed from power. The recent Supreme Court judgment gives promise of precisely such a revolution. The Constitution has at last tripped the liars and deceivers who for half a century habitually distorted it.
Initial reaction The initial reactions of opposition leaders and media pundits to the Supreme Court judgment were pathetic. Mr George Fernandes sought a court case against Governor Buta Singh. Mr LK Advani by some esoteric logic considered home minister Shivraj Patil singularly responsible for the dissolution. Doubtless Mr Patil was flattered by being vested with such heavy responsibility. Mr Vajpayee's customary wisdom punctuated by pregnant pauses was replaced by a barren silence. Only belatedly did NDA leaders make muffled demands for the PM's resignation. But most critics focused on Mr Buta Singh. As a Dalit not famed for probity and with sons Lovely and Sweetie flanking him, he makes a comfortable target to flay. He is quite unlike Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has impeccable Oxford credentials. Dr Singh thought nothing of accepting appointment as Prime Minister by the Dynasty's current incumbent instead of insisting on a prior electoral endorsement by the Congress parliamentary party. But then he was the same gentleman who thought nothing of making a false affidavit claiming he was a permanent resident of Assam in order to get elected to the Rajya Sabha, wasn't he? When icons of middle class morality expose their hypocrisy it's our tradition to look the other way. Media pundits and legal luminaries all solemnly affirm that the President can return an advice by the cabinet for reconsideration. But if it comes back to him after reconsideration he must act by it. They never clarify whether the President should honour his oath to preserve and protect the Constitution if offered unconstitutional advice by the cabinet. Even a distinguished legal luminary like Soli Sorabji seemed to indicate on TV that the President eventually is bound by the cabinet's advice. If so, the President must resign to honour his oath, shouldn't he? Is that what our legal luminaries believe? As this column indicated on an earlier occasion, one can dump the so-called wisdom of experts in the trash can. The Indian Constitution is written and explicit. Ignore the debates of the Constituent Assembly or which legal expert said what and where. Only Supreme Court judgments, however flawed and mediocre, remain relevant. Like bad decisions by cricket umpires, the flawed judgments by judges must be accepted till reversed or overtaken by subsequent rulings of the courts themselves. Fortunately this does happen sometimes.
Full judgment The government seeks time till the full judgment is made available. It is obviously attempting to brazen through the crisis. The diversion caused by the earthquake and the uncommonly kind media reactions help it. Indira Gandhi in her day also sought time to study the Allahabad High Court judgment. She ended up by imposing a cowardly, fraudulent Emergency. This time a repeat performance seems unlikely. The judgment cannot be brushed under the carpet. And its implications are so unique as to create an unimagined situation. That's why there is potential for revolution. One columnist has demanded that the President should resign for signing an unconstitutional order. Others think that the Prime Minister should resign because the President is bound by the advice of the cabinet. Most people of course think that Buta Singh should resign. His eventual transfer from Bihar would satisfy them. The truth is, and this is what makes the situation unique, Buta Singh should be sacked because of a partisan and fraudulent Governor's report. The PM and cabinet should be sacked for endorsing that report and hustling it through in circumstances suggesting conspiracy and malafide intent. And the President should resign because he failed to apply his mind and safeguard the Constitution which he is under oath to protect. But how can all this come about? By a simple process which if followed would convert our present political system into a presidential form of government without violating any norm of the Constitution. There are two alternative scenarios that could be enacted. First, President Kalam could sack the cabinet. Then on the reasonable plea that ideological diversity gives promise only of a government based on an opportunistic alliance without stability, he could dissolve Parliament and order a fresh poll. Then, and only then, might he accept his moral responsibility of not applying his mind and resign from his post. The alternative and easier course would be for the President to brief the Vice President, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, before accepting his responsibility and tendering his resignation. Mr Shekhawat as the acting President would be fully empowered to do the rest. Mr Shekhawat as a veteran political warhorse is more than capable of bold action. The result of these exertions would be that a new President would have to be elected when there is no House. Clearly, the new President would be elected by the new MPs. In that event ideally the election of MPs and the President should be simultaneous. But even if that does not happen, the President's election would come on the heels of the mid-term parliamentary poll. That would allow presidential candidates to throw their hats in the ring. Since their electoral fortunes would hinge on the parliamentary poll, these candidates could not only forge alliances with parties for future support but could actually travel across the country to campaign for their future supporters. In that event people when voting for the MP would also know which presidential candidate they vote for.
Basic structure Abracadabra! Without violating the basic structure of the Constitution, the President would have been elected directly by the people. Subsequently Parliament could amend the law to give fixed terms to legislatures and make polls to parliament, assemblies and the Presidency simultaneous. Already a sizable section of opinion within parliament favours fixed terms. And till 1967 parliamentary and assembly elections were indeed held simultaneously. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment and with the President assuming responsibility, a fresh look at his powers would become imperative. Indeed a fresh look at the Constitution might be undertaken. The President upon resigning after the Supreme Court judgment would already be perceived as the one assuming ultimate responsibility for protecting the Constitution. If elected in the manner suggested he would also be seen as the heaviest and most legitimate political authority by the people. There are more than enough powers for the President in the Constitution even as it exists to convert the present system into a Presidential form of government if the President was to exercise those powers. Constitutions are not scraps of dry text. They contain the law and practice by which societies are ruled. They evolve with history and experience. If India seeks good governance it must inevitably adopt a presidential system to acquire national coherence. At the same time, it must introduce much deeper devolution of power to make democracy and self-rule meaningful for the people. As a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious subcontinent only a genuinely federal democracy can keep India united and strong. The recent Supreme Court judgment provides an opportunity for such change. Will the nation seize it?
Bihar most corrupt state, Kerala least, shows study
Posted online: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 0019 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 18: The composite ranking of states in petty corruption cases involving common citizens and in the 11 public services, Kerala stands as the least corrupt state while Bihar tops the list, according to global organisation Transparency International's annual 'corruption perceptions' index released on Tuesday,.
Jammu and Kashmir has been ranked the second most corrupt state while Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Assam are also badly afflicted with the problem. Delhi stands 10th in the list.
The study said all services in Bihar are ranked as the most corrupt in the country. Except hospitals, all services in Jammu and Kashmir are also corrupt while in Madhya Pradesh, municipal services are ranked relatively better.
In Karnataka services like income-tax, judiciary, municipalities figure among the top corrupt services in the country while in Rajasthan judiciary (lower) ranks among the less corrupt services.
In Assam, police and electricity figure as the most corrupt services.
In Himachal Pradesh, most services are ranked as relatively less corrupt.
Gujarat is ranked as less corrupt in comparison to others .
In Tamil Nadu, schools, hospitals, income-tax and municipalities rank among the most corrupt department.
Bar girls returning home to Bihar from Mumbai
Supriya Sharma
(NDTV News)
Saturday, October 15, 2005 (Sasaram):
Even as Sasaram in Bihar gears up for the polls and the festive
season, the latest buzz seems to be that of the bar girls who are
returning home from Mumbai.
The young girls, who had moved to Mumbai in search of a living, have
been forced to return home after the dance bars shut down.
Survival has clearly become a struggle for these girls, with one of
them telling NDTV she was forced to switch to doing mujras.
"I could earn barely Rs 30 a day with the mujras. It was not enough to
pay the rent, bear the other expenses and send money home. So I had to
come back," she said.
The girl added that back in their home state, some of them were
invited for dance shows during Dusshera and Diwali celebration. But
that too helped them earn as little as Rs 1500 a night, to be shared
by the entire group.
Some of the girls say they are more concerned about the loss of their
freedom, than the fall in their income.
"In Bihar we live under pressure and fear. One cannot refuse dance
shows, there could be repercussions. But in Mumbai noone could force
us to work," a bar girl said.
The bar girls are just a more visible face of Bihar's migrant labour,
lakhs of whom are forced to leave their homes in search for work. But
while they may have had to return home for want of an alternative,
they seem happy at the prospect of being able to cast their votes in
the upcoming elections.
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What Is Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during
this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete
fast.
During the blessed month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain
from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours. As a
time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice
self-sacrifice, Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking.
Muslims are called upon to use this month to re-evaluate their lives in
light of Islamic guidance. We are to make peace with those who have wronged
us, strengthen ties with family and friends, do away with bad habits --
essentially to clean up our lives, our thoughts, and our feelings. The
Arabic word for "fasting" (sawm)literally means "to refrain" - and it means
not only refraining from food and drink, but from evil actions, thoughts,
and words.
During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restrained. The tongue must
be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves
from looking at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything
that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle
talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places.
In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast.
Therefore, fasting is not merely physical, but is rather the total
commitment of the person's body and soul to the spirit of the fast. Ramadan
is a time to practice self-restraint; a time to cleanse the body and soul
from impurities and re-focus one's self on the worship of God.
More Ramadan FAQs
http://islam.about.com/od/ramadan/f/ramadan_faq.htm
===================
For more information about Islam
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Indian 'child genius' beats the odds By Amarnath Tewary BBC correspondent in Patna
A 12-year-old boy from India's poorest and most lawless state, Bihar,
is celebrating being named India smartest kid after winning a
nationally televised quiz.
Poor download times and power cuts did not deter Shubham Subham Prakhar
won the title of "India's Child Genius" after several rounds of stiff
competition between some 16,000 schoolchildren.
Both of his parents are currently unemployed and Subham had to depend
on generous relatives and the internet to gain access to the books he
needed to prepare for the competition.
Besides a glass trophy, an Encyclopaedia Britannica CD-rom and a pair
of gold and silver pens, Shubham won a cash prize of one million rupees
($22,200).
Murders and kidnaps
Shubham Prakhar lives in the northern district of Muzaffarpur in Bihar
- a state where police estimate that a murder takes place every four
hours, a woman is raped every six hours, and kidnappings
are a daily occurrence. Muzaffarpur is considered to be the crime capital of the state.
He is an eighth-grade student in an area where kidnappings of schoolchildren for ransom is routine.
"We wish to send our only child to some other schools in Delhi as the
situation here is frightening and not conducive," say his parents,
Kumar Nawin and Archana Kumari.
It was a 10-month-long process running in 27 episodes to choose
India's first child genius Siddhartha Basu Quiz show host "But we
can't do it as money has always been a problem."
The couple started a computer institute but were forced to wind it up
in 1998 "as it failed to bring profit". Rent provided by tenants has
allowed them to keep living in the ancestral home in Muzaffarpur while
they devote their time to their only son.
They got him his first computer when he was in the first grade and
"since then he has been operating it like a true professional", says
his mother, who trained as a computer engineer in Ukraine.
Beating the odds Shubham had won every competition he entered before
applying to take part in India's most prestigious and popular brain
game show. He struggled hard to download the application form in a town
in which the internet connection trips every few minutes and there are
frequent power cuts.
Despite being unemployed his parents have stood by him "I've never
stood second in life and that's how I wanted to be," he says.
But he faced an uphill task in his latest challenge.
Contestants were required to be in the age group of 10-13, with an
overall average of at least 80% in school tests and examinations over
the past two academic years. The top percentile of applicants from four
regional zones were invited for a written entry test. Among 16,000
students Shubham topped the written test by "a substantial margin",
says competition host Siddhartha Basu.
Telephone interviews and more tests helped organisers whittle the 320 contestants down to 60.
Just 18 contestants took part in the final, which was televised
nationally on the Star World television channel last week. "It was a
10-month-long process running in 27 episodes to choose India's first
child genius," says Mr Basu.
Family support
Shubham's family say living in a small town like Muzaffarpur has its
limitations. "But we managed through somehow with all our family
effort," says his grandmother, Jayanti Devi, an economics professor.
Shubham prepared for up to 12 hours a day during his holidays, and five or six hours while at school.
"I read 70 books, including classics, between April and August - but
not a single question was asked on them in the final," he says.
I'm just proud of my home state which of course has recently earned bad name for some wrong reasons
Shubham Prakhar
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the Charles Dickens
classics, A Tale of two cities and David Copperfield, were among his
favourite reads.
"I like stories written in [the classical style], but these days
good classics are difficult to find."
Shubham's teachers say he is an extraordinary talent who is the pride
of their school. "Shubham is just an amazing blend of genius and
talent. If everything goes right in future he will be a real treasure
for India," says Manish Kumar, who has been teaching him for the past
three years.
A fan of Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta, Shubham also
loves to play and watch cricket along with other boys his age. He
dreams of becoming a professor of computer or mechanical
engineering to "serve his state and country". "I'm just proud of my
home state - which of course has recently earned a bad name for some
wrong reasons - but I'd love to do something for it," promises Shubham.
Promising a slew of sops for the minorities, including jobs for
dalit Muslims, Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance's
Common Minimum Programme for Bihar elections laid stress on
infrastructure and social sector development and pledged to check
corruption in high places.
The CMP, released jointly by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Congress
in-charge of Bihar Digvijay Singh and Nationalist Congress Party
General Secretary Tariq Anwar, focused on social engineering, the
hallmark of RJD supremo, as it promised to work for job reservations
for dalit Muslims, quotas for them in government, non-government and
government-aided technical institutions and even favoured job quotas
for poor among the upper castes.
The document vowed to check corruption in high places.
It said the chief minister, ministers and legislators will disclose
their assets, which would be tabled on the floor of the House. The
members will be asked to furnish revised statements on their assets at
the beginning of every year.
The CMP assured to take effective steps for getting approval of the
Centre to Bihar government's proposal to include backward Kahar,
Karmkar, Nonia, Bind, Mallah, Rajbhar, Turha, Barhai and Kamar castes
in the scheduled caste category and also to work for designating Tanti,
Nai and Kanu castes as schedule castes.
Following the inclusion of these castes in the scheduled castes
bracket, the job quota for SC would be enhanced so that those already
getting benefits are not deprived of these, it said.
The CMP promised to enact suitable laws for prompt payment of
compensation to victims of communal riots and their rehabilitation,
besides raising an anti-riot police force.
It assured appointment of teachers of Arabic and Persian in all
schools, colleges and universities and Urdu translators and typists in
block, sub-divisional and district offices. A sub-inspector having
knowledge of the language will be posted at every police station.
The CMP promised salaries and other benefits to madarsa and Sanskrit
school teachers on par with state government employee and provision of
loans upto Rs five lakh to the youth belonging to the minorities
through the minorities financial corporation.
It vowed to maintain communal harmony and warned of action against those who tried to disturb it.
Pledging to work for infrastructure development, the UPA's document
promised total rural electrification by year 2009 and free electricity
to SC/ST households living below poverty line.
Stating that the power plants at Nabinagar, Barh and Biht would
become operational by year 2010, it said Kanti and Barauni thermal
power stations would be modernised and expanded by 2008.
It said the work on 250 km of roads under golden quadrilateral
project and 550 km under East-West corridor project would be completed
in a year.
All villages having a population of 1000 would be connected with
all-weather roads by 2009 and those with population of 50 by 2011.
Top priority would be accorded to tackling flood for which the
negotiations were continuing between the UPA government at the Centre
and the government of Nepal, it said.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2005 01:02:39 AM ]
NEW DELHI: In a move to give a push
to infrastructure in the backward state of Bihar, the Centre has
initiated an ambitious Rs 20,000-crore road development project.
To be implemented under the aegis of the Rashtriya Sam
Vikas Yojna, the project involves repair and construction of more than
2000 km of two-lane state highways. The precarious condition of state
highways has brought economic activity in the state to a virtual halt.
According to sources in
CPWD, which is handling the project, the project will be jointly
implemented by the Union road and surface transport ministry and the
Bihar government. However, it will be fully funded by the Central
government. Total estimated cost of the project, to be completed
simultaneously in 20 packages, is Rs 20,000 crore.
In the proposal, the
major beneficiary districts will be Rohtas (303 km), West Champaran
(154 km), East Champaran (98 km) and Purnia (91 km). Other districts to
be covered are Siwan and Jahanabad (54 km each), Bhagalpur (48 km),
Nawada (45 km) and Saharsa (43 km). Yet, there are other backward
districts which have been left out.
"CPWD consultancy
services has already started work on the project. Detailed project
report will be ready within six to eight months. If things move as per
schedule, tenders will be floated by May-June 2006 and actual work will
start by September-October next year," said an official
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