As the General Election draws near, a war by proxy has begun between the Centre and Bihar. The target? The hearts and minds of the people of Bihar.
At the centre is the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, with 24 MPs in the current Lok Sabha out of 40 that Bihar sends to the lower House. This numbers, his supporters agree, can only go down in the next Lok Sabha.
While the ruling coalition government headed by Lalu’s bête noire Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has had its ups and downs, even Kumar’s avowed enemies, including the CPI(M) concede that the government is delivering results. In fact, in an informal assessment, the CPI(M) is said to have reported to its party leadership that Kumar is likely to sweep the Lok Sabha elections.
Lalu got a further jolt recently when a leader he has publicly acknowledged his admiration for — Sonia Gandhi — came out in open praise for the Bihar government’s Right to Information communication system, accessible by telephone, and asked all other states to follow the Bihar model.
Lalu has therefore tried to intensify his efforts to try and make the state government uncomfortable and the latest effort in this direction is to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of dues owed to sugar farmers by the Motihari Sugar Factory promoted by Eastern Sugar and Industries Limited in East Champaran district. The factory has been closed for the last four years and owes farmers about Rs 18 crore.
Revival of sugar mills, disinvestment and privatisation of state-owned mills and incentives for setting up new ones was a centerpiece of the Nitish government when it first came to power in 2005. However, because of the crash in sugarcane prices and ban on sugar exports, and despite the state government putting a progressive policy architecture in place, these plans could not be rolled out as investors began to shy away from making new commitments.
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Lalu, seizing this as a potential campaign point, wrote to both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in May and July this year, seeking the invocation of a clause in the Sugar Undertaking (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1978, which allows the central government to temporarily take over the management of sugar factories to maintain the continuity of sugar production.
Interestingly, Lalu’s letter to the PM says: “Although I subscribe to the principle of non-interference of government in matters relating to private business, I had requested that the provisions of the Act be invoked to take over the Motihari Sugar Factory and the liquidation of arrears in view of the undue hardship and suffering of cane farmers whose rightful dues have been kept pending for a long time”.
Prasad says that if the Centre cannot take over the factory, it must direct the state government to do something about it.
He has asked the PM to discuss the matter with the agriculture minister again. All these represent pinpricks for the Nitish government which is unlikely to react benignly to the charges that it is turning a blind eye to the interests of cane farmers.