One of Lalu Prasad’s most famous promises was to make the roads of Bihar as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks. In Nitish Kumar’s Bihar, that comparison with Malini’s glamour is missing but people are happy to note the network of roads is at least as effective as Dharmendra’s biceps.
Travel time between Patna to Darbhanga via Muzaffarpur got reduced by almost half just as in many parts of Bihar the road journey has become comfortable. The florescent signboards show it as National Highway 47 but the Central government’s role finds little mention among the masses. For them, the highway is an extension of the concrete-mould roads that Nitish Kumar has made to connect the villages.
The first three phases, where North Bihar’s polling will be complete of 140 seats, is going to be the make-or-break phase for Nitish Kumar. The flood-affected, drought-hit region will test how Kumar has been able to deliver on his sole mantra—development with justice. The Congress is also eyeing the same development slot and will try to poach the Upper caste and Muslim vote bank.
At the tea stall of Bahadurpur there will be praises for the renovated state highway between Darbhanga and Samastipur which was ravaged in floods two years ago. Government handbook says since 2006-07, 23,606 kms of road have been constructed/ renovated in Bihar. Lalu Prasad, however, takes the entire credit of this turnaround. He tells his followers that he had actually set in motion the development agenda and Nitish Kumar is just reaping the benefits.
Kumar’s counter-attack showcases fearless, late night travels that were not quite possible in Lalu’s days. “You don’t hurry to come back home after sunset. You don’t feel scared to go out at night now,” Kumar reiterates in public meetings as he tries to make a cocktail of good roads and improved law and order situation.
The Congress is attacking Kumar for shoddy implementation of many Central schemes. But privately, even Congress managers admit that Kumar has scored on two areas: law and order and the 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayets. “This, in turn has not only empowered women but reduced inter-caste conflicts,” says a Congress general secretary currently deployed in Bihar for the elections.
Many schools have found new buildings and vacancies of teachers and rural doctors at local health centres have filled up. “But the labour migration from North Bihar still continues at a high rate. Almost 50 per cent of these villages are out of Bihar to work in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi or Gujarat,” says Vikky Kumar of Bahadurpur.
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation came out with a survey few years ago showing out of India’s 100 most poor districts 26 are from Bihar; The bulk of them belongs to the Northern part of the state like Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Muzaffaarpur, Paschim and Purvi Champaran, Purnia, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, etc. the public infrastructures are slowly coming into place, but job opportunities still remain a distant dream.