RULED OR MISRULED: STORY AND DESTINY OF BIHAR
Santosh Singh
Bloomsbury
340 pages; Rs 499
The cover did not overstate it; this is a reporter's book in every sense of the term. Santosh Singh does a good job explaining the "what" and "how" of Bihar's politics. It's the "why" that is missing sometimes.
Take the case of Lalu Prasad's rule starting in 1990. The author is right in saying that "three things made Lalu a phenomenon - vernacularisation, mandalisation and secularisation - may be in that order. Perhaps, no Indian politician 'vernacularised' politics in the manner and with the same effect as Lalu did." By "vernacularisation", Mr Singh is referring to the way the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar chief minister conducted himself, the kind of language he used to communicate with the people and his choice of policy initiatives.
The real question is: why did this "phenomenon" fail to take Bihar forward on key development indices? He did talk about building world class roads. He was willing to make right kind of intervention in the education with the help of the famous charwaha vidyalay concept to ensure that underprivileged children do get some sort of schooling. Lalu was the one who introduced the concept of Janata Darbar in state politics. He is credited with pioneering the idea of direct cash transfers to build houses for scheduled caste people. He would never shy away from meeting people and getting their grievances redressed.
Why did he then focus his energy on social justice alone, neglecting other aspects of governance? The book does not provide a credible answer. "Lalu Prasad made two serious attempts to bring good governance, one between March 1990 and October 1990 and another after his victory in the 1995 assembly elections. In the first instance, he was swayed by Mandal, Kamandal and the thumping 1991 Lok Sabha victory and in the second instance, [the] fodder scam was unearthed in January-February 1996," the author argues rather simplistically.
Perhaps Lalu was the victim of the circumstances. He presided over Bihar at a time when Indian economy was going through a period of transition. The central government had begun to withdraw from many areas. Many state governments would have felt the pain in terms of lower central assistance for social welfare schemes. While states with solid industrial base made good use of the opening up of the economy, states with a negligible industrial base had begun to fall behind.
Lalu's government could never recover from the initial crisis. But he had to win elections and only way he could do that was by aggressively espousing the cause of social justice. And once the forces bent on reversing the existing social order were unleashed, there was very little he could do to guide them to a peaceful transition. Lalu clearly erred on this count.
Nitish Kumar, yet another key votary of the social justice plank, on the other hand, took charge of the state at a time when the Indian economy was about to take off. Buoyed by increasing resources in the form of the state's rightful share in the Centre's pool of taxes and grants, he had begun to rebuild Bihar. Fortunately for him, the militant phase of the social justice movement (read the aggressive assertion of backward classes) was close to exhaustion. Nitish had the skill and the inclination and he made the most of a favourable environment.
The book written by a Patna-based journalist who has covered Bihar politics for many years, also offers useful insights into why the Congress suffered terminal decline in the state. "The Congress in Bihar, in fact, had a twin fall - one before Lalu and one after and along with Lalu. The first fall had important landmarks - corruption charges against the K B Sahay government, rise of socialist forces, the 1974 JP movement, [the] credible face of EBC (extreme backward classes) leader Karpoori Thakur, Congress' monolithic, upper caste politics and the 1989 Bhagalpur riots," the author observes.
The author has recreated a political history of Bihar of the last three decades through the stories of key political figures like Karpoori Thakur, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi. The timing of the book couldn't have been better. With the Assembly elections due in a couple of weeks, the author introduces us to key political personalities who can shape the state's destiny and the last chapter talks about the strengths and weaknesses of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance and Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan.
The problem with such books, however, is that they lose their relevance all too quickly. It will require massive revision after the election results are out to stay relevant. It gives the impression of being hurriedly written to meet a deadline, which is why the reporter in the author must be complemented for covering key events and presenting them accurately.
Santosh Singh
Bloomsbury
340 pages; Rs 499
The cover did not overstate it; this is a reporter's book in every sense of the term. Santosh Singh does a good job explaining the "what" and "how" of Bihar's politics. It's the "why" that is missing sometimes.
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Take the case of Lalu Prasad's rule starting in 1990. The author is right in saying that "three things made Lalu a phenomenon - vernacularisation, mandalisation and secularisation - may be in that order. Perhaps, no Indian politician 'vernacularised' politics in the manner and with the same effect as Lalu did." By "vernacularisation", Mr Singh is referring to the way the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar chief minister conducted himself, the kind of language he used to communicate with the people and his choice of policy initiatives.
The real question is: why did this "phenomenon" fail to take Bihar forward on key development indices? He did talk about building world class roads. He was willing to make right kind of intervention in the education with the help of the famous charwaha vidyalay concept to ensure that underprivileged children do get some sort of schooling. Lalu was the one who introduced the concept of Janata Darbar in state politics. He is credited with pioneering the idea of direct cash transfers to build houses for scheduled caste people. He would never shy away from meeting people and getting their grievances redressed.
Why did he then focus his energy on social justice alone, neglecting other aspects of governance? The book does not provide a credible answer. "Lalu Prasad made two serious attempts to bring good governance, one between March 1990 and October 1990 and another after his victory in the 1995 assembly elections. In the first instance, he was swayed by Mandal, Kamandal and the thumping 1991 Lok Sabha victory and in the second instance, [the] fodder scam was unearthed in January-February 1996," the author argues rather simplistically.
Perhaps Lalu was the victim of the circumstances. He presided over Bihar at a time when Indian economy was going through a period of transition. The central government had begun to withdraw from many areas. Many state governments would have felt the pain in terms of lower central assistance for social welfare schemes. While states with solid industrial base made good use of the opening up of the economy, states with a negligible industrial base had begun to fall behind.
Lalu's government could never recover from the initial crisis. But he had to win elections and only way he could do that was by aggressively espousing the cause of social justice. And once the forces bent on reversing the existing social order were unleashed, there was very little he could do to guide them to a peaceful transition. Lalu clearly erred on this count.
Nitish Kumar, yet another key votary of the social justice plank, on the other hand, took charge of the state at a time when the Indian economy was about to take off. Buoyed by increasing resources in the form of the state's rightful share in the Centre's pool of taxes and grants, he had begun to rebuild Bihar. Fortunately for him, the militant phase of the social justice movement (read the aggressive assertion of backward classes) was close to exhaustion. Nitish had the skill and the inclination and he made the most of a favourable environment.
The book written by a Patna-based journalist who has covered Bihar politics for many years, also offers useful insights into why the Congress suffered terminal decline in the state. "The Congress in Bihar, in fact, had a twin fall - one before Lalu and one after and along with Lalu. The first fall had important landmarks - corruption charges against the K B Sahay government, rise of socialist forces, the 1974 JP movement, [the] credible face of EBC (extreme backward classes) leader Karpoori Thakur, Congress' monolithic, upper caste politics and the 1989 Bhagalpur riots," the author observes.
The author has recreated a political history of Bihar of the last three decades through the stories of key political figures like Karpoori Thakur, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi. The timing of the book couldn't have been better. With the Assembly elections due in a couple of weeks, the author introduces us to key political personalities who can shape the state's destiny and the last chapter talks about the strengths and weaknesses of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance and Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan.
The problem with such books, however, is that they lose their relevance all too quickly. It will require massive revision after the election results are out to stay relevant. It gives the impression of being hurriedly written to meet a deadline, which is why the reporter in the author must be complemented for covering key events and presenting them accurately.