First came the setback in Assembly bypolls and then the Khagaria carnage. These two events have forced Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to put his big land reform plans on the backburner. His deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, said as much on Monday at a function here to felicitate BJP?s senior leader Kailashpati Mishra on his 87th birthday. ?There is no such recommendation by the Bandopadhyaya Commission to give the land rights to the tillers… This is a concerted effort by the Opposition to create confusion in the common man which needs to be corrected,? Modi told reporters.
The ruling combine?s concern is natural. With Assembly elections just 14 months away, Kumar can ill afford to hand over the initiative to the Opposition. Upbeat after the September by-poll results, the RJD and LJP have already tasted blood.
Now, in the aftermath of the carnage, in which 16 persons belonging to the OBCs were killed by Musahars belonging to the Mahadalits in Icharua village of Khagaria district, Ram Vilas Paswan?s LJP is going from one village to another saying that Kumar?s Mahadalit politics has further divided Bihar?s already caste-ridden society.
Almost seven months after taking over the reins of the state in November 2005, Kumar ventured into the land reform arena, which has tripped up successive governments. The chief minister set up a land reform commission on June 16, 2006 to lend credence to his policy for the uplift of the poorest among poor and put D Bandopadhyaya, who scripted West Bengal?s Operation Barga, at the helm.
After a comprehensive tour of the state, the commission submitted its report in September 2008. Asked why the recommendations were not yet tabled in the assembly, the CM said it was the government?s prerogative. ?The government was not bound to implement recommendations of the commission. The recommendations were being studied by a three-member committee.?