In a matter of just one year, a sense of despondency seems to have set in Bihar as opposed to the perception of rapid development that was the subject of public discourse during the first full term of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The normal ills associated with politics in India - such as corruption, horse-trading, sectarian rivalry, poor governance, crime and lack of oversight of the general administration - now seem to have engulfed Bihar after seven years of growth and development that was widely hailed as a success story and made it the fastest growing state in India.
These issues appear to have magnified manifold in recent weeks, especially after Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U) forced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of the ruling coalition in the state.
The two parties had bagged 85 percent of the seats in the last assembly elections in 2010. They together got 206 out of 243 seats in the Bihar assembly. This was also the first time, perhaps, that the people of Bihar had voted for performance and development, rather than for caste and change.
An ugly example was the extent to which the two parties traded charges over the death of nearly two dozen children at a school near Saran district headquarters Chapra after partaking the food provided under the mid-day meal scheme.
"Surely, the things are not as good as it was even last year. Due to the recent incidents (Bodh Gaya bombing and mid-day meal tragedy), people are getting despondent again," a senior officer of Bihar Police told IANS in Chapra, not wishing to be identified.
If three years ago, the talk was about how Bihar was building one bridge almost every day, today it is about misuse of public funds in implementation of the Indira Awas Yojna and other social welfare schemes. Similarly, if people spoke about how the state was adding 35 km of roads to its network every day, today it is about how millions of rupees meant for state highways are being swindled.
JD-U and BJP leaders, who together used to project Bihar as a model state for growth and development, are today busy in trading charges of malpractices and creating cracks in each other's parties.
Bihar, which not too long ago was being lauded for registering the highest growth rate among all states - around 11-percent-plus - is now under attack for losing steam in virtually every area of social uplift and development.
"The mood of public discourse started changing from early 2012. In the last couple of months the situation has worsened," Rajesh Chakrabarti, author of "Bihar Breakthrough" on the turnaround of a beleaguered state, told IANS.
Chakrabarti, also executive director of Mohali-based Bharti Institute of Public Policy, said Nitish Kumar's popularity has taken a hit because of the recent unfortunate incidents like the Bodh Gaya serial blasts and Chapra mid-day meal tragedy.
"People's expectations are now high. It won't be correct to say that we are going back to 2005 situation. Negative discourse is partly due to high expectations," P. K. Singh, a senior official at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in Patna, told IANS.
Bihar recorded the highest average growth rate among all states in the 11th Five Year Plan period that ended March 31, 2012. The state's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 14.48 percent in the financial year 2012-13, almost three times the national average estimated at five percent.
Despite the recent surge in growth rates, Bihar remains one of the most backward states. It is home to the highest number of poor. More than one-third of the state's population of 110 million is below the poverty line and almost 40 percent is illiterate, according to government figures.
Bihar's per capita income was Rs.16,537 ($275) in 2012-13, less than half of the national average of Rs.39,143 at 2004-05 prices.
"No doubt, Nitish Kumar scripted the turnaround story in Bihar. Overcoming the negativity and keeping the growth momentum going is his biggest challenge now," says Ajay Shanker, who teaches political science at Delhi University's Ramjas College.
(Gyanendra Kumar Keshri can be reached at gyanendra.k@ians.in)
