The people of Bihar have spoken. It is 202 seats to the NDA and 35 seats to the MGB. All citizens must accept the verdict. The new government, whoever is the chief minister, deserves our good wishes. Because, those who deserve most our good wishes are the people of Bihar.
The media did not do itself proud in its coverage of the Bihar elections. The few media outlets — newspapers and television channels — that had hewed a slightly different path also joined the herd. The reporters on the ground were speaking in one voice: that people are voting on caste lines; there is no anti-incumbency against Mr Nitish Kumar; Mr Tejashwi Yadav brought energy to the campaign but has not been able to expand his appeal beyond his traditional base; Mr Prashant Kishor put fresh ideas before the voters but he is viewed as a start-up and untested; Mr Narendra Modi has an instant connect with the electorate; Mr Rahul Gandhi stuck to his main themes of vote chori (vote theft) and unemployment; and so on and so forth. The only new song was dus hazaari (Rs 10,000) cash transfer to one woman of every household before, during and after the polling.
At bottom rung
The people of Bihar have apparently long memories. They remembered the 15 years of Mr Lalu Prasad’s (or his wife’s) government (1990-2005) and unfairly blamed Mr Tejashwi Yadav who was barely 16 years old when the government was voted out. They also recalled the 20-year government of Mr Nitish Kumar (or his proxy) but seemed to have no resentment against the multiple failures.
Is Bihar poor? Is there massive unemployment? Are crores of people migrating to other states in search of jobs? Does multi-dimensional poverty afflict large sections of the people? Are the conditions of education and healthcare appalling? Despite ‘prohibition’, is liquor freely available? The answer to each of the questions is ‘yes’. If so, there is no explanation why the people voted as they did in the just-concluded elections. In a column, Mr Shekhar Gupta wrote tongue-in-cheek that ‘What Bihar thinks today, Bihar thought the day before yesterday’. Be that as it may, there were perhaps reasons that will be revealed in post-election surveys.
I urge the people of Bihar to re-discover the spirit of the Champaran era. Students must not meekly tolerate unqualified teachers; colleges/schools without teachers, libraries and laboratories; paper leaks; mass copying in examinations; manipulated results; worthless degrees; and farcical public service recruitment. The youth must not silently accept the lack of jobs in their state and travel long distances to work in any job in a state where the people, language, food and culture are alien to them. Parents and families must not accept fatalistically that the men will not live with their kin. The people of Bihar must no longer live like their fathers and grandmothers.
Key is organisation
Apparently, the Opposition political parties failed to put before the people an alternative vision and stoke the desire for change. Mr Prashant Kishor tried that but he was burdened by numerous handicaps. If true, the blame lies solely with the Opposition political parties. It is not enough to have capable leaders and resources; they must have a million pairs of feet on the ground and a solid organization. More than the party’s leaders or the candidates, it is the party organization and the foot soldiers that win an election. As a rule — with rare exceptions — every election is won by a party or an alliance of parties that has the organizational strength that will turn out the voters to vote in its or their favour. Going by the results, it seems that the BJP, followed by the JD(U), had that organizational strength in Bihar.
Where responsibility test
The Election Commission of India played a questionable role. On the eve of Bihar elections, it announced the controversial Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls— only in Bihar — and diverted the debate. The increased percentage of voting is partly because the total number of votes in the rolls — the denominator — was lower, thanks to SIR.
The ECI turned a blind eye to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana that was launched by the prime minister ten days before the polling dates were announced. The transfer of Rs 10,000 was started before the announcement and continued during the campaign period; the ECI did not stop it at any stage. The money transfer was a blatant bribe to the voters. Contrast the ECI’s conduct in Tamil Nadu. The cash support scheme to farmers was started in March 2003; when the dates of the LS poll were announced in 2004, the scheme was stopped. A free colour TV scheme was in force since 2006; when the Assembly elections were announced in 2001, the scheme was peremptorily suspended (source: The Hindu). ECI’s partisan conduct in Bihar was obvious.
Those excesses apart, the NDA’s win was a landslide. Post-election introspection will bring out the answers to many questions.
I am more concerned about who will hold the state government to its promises and to account over the next five years. Unfortunately, the people of Bihar did not vote for a strong Opposition in the state Assembly, and that brings back the responsibility to the people themselves. It is a greater responsibility than the exercise of the right to vote.