Four years on, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar may have suffered a setback in the recent by-elections, but he appears to be well on course for a second term in office, reports Onkareshwar Pandey
Last month’s Bihar bypoll results were a huge setback for chief
minister Nitish Kumar. The political combine of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP wrested nine of the 18 seats contested, leaving only five for the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance. The Congress won two seats. Most of these 18 seats were previously with the ruling NDA alliance.
So is Nitish Kumar’s magic waning? On the face of it, if these results are an indication, the CM would be hard-pressed to retain power when Bihar goes to the polls next year. But political equations in the state are complex and with the Opposition likely to remain splintered, Nitish might just sail through.
The question that is being asked is: what went wrong in the bypolls? Earlier this year, the NDA alliance had won 32 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. RJD-LJP managed only four. Do the bypoll reverses mean the electorate is losing faith in Nitish four years after he stormed to power, ending 15 years of the RJD regime?
Political observers aren't ready to read too much into the results although they accept that several aspects of Nitish’s rule have led to disenchantment.
When Nitish pulled off a resounding victory in the November 2005 Assembly elections, the people’s expectations were very high indeed. They wanted to see an end to the misrule that marked the the Lalu-Rabri tenure.
On many counts, Nitish lived up to the expectations. He put his best foot forward on the law and order front. Criminals and musclemen were quickly brought to book. Perpetrators of the massacres that occurred in the past were punished irrespective of caste and political considerations. Bihar saw 6,839 convictions in 2006, 9653 in 2007, 12,007 in 2008 and 10,125 in 2009 (as of September).
In a 60-page progress report on his government’s performance, Nitish claims: "On the law and order front, the task was to build confidence among people and in the law enforcing machinery. We succeeded to a great extent in taking out the fear factor from the minds of people, both from inside and outside the state... Women can be seen moving around in cities and towns till late in the evening. A number of national and international events are taking place here, which is a clear indication that we have been able to instill confidence among people".
The Khagaria massacre, which claimed 16 lives in the first week of October this year, was the biggest blot on Nitish Kumar’s relatively ‘peaceful’ four-year track record in a caste-conscious state. But In this case, too, Nitish acted with alacrity and suspended the Khagaria SP and DSP for dereliction of duty. The police have already arrested the alleged mastermind and are claiming to have cracked the case on the basis of the interrogation.
Last month’s Bihar bypoll results were a huge setback for chief
minister Nitish Kumar. The political combine of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP wrested nine of the 18 seats contested, leaving only five for the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance. The Congress won two seats. Most of these 18 seats were previously with the ruling NDA alliance.So is Nitish Kumar’s magic waning? On the face of it, if these results are an indication, the CM would be hard-pressed to retain power when Bihar goes to the polls next year. But political equations in the state are complex and with the Opposition likely to remain splintered, Nitish might just sail through.
The question that is being asked is: what went wrong in the bypolls? Earlier this year, the NDA alliance had won 32 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. RJD-LJP managed only four. Do the bypoll reverses mean the electorate is losing faith in Nitish four years after he stormed to power, ending 15 years of the RJD regime?
Political observers aren't ready to read too much into the results although they accept that several aspects of Nitish’s rule have led to disenchantment.
When Nitish pulled off a resounding victory in the November 2005 Assembly elections, the people’s expectations were very high indeed. They wanted to see an end to the misrule that marked the the Lalu-Rabri tenure.
On many counts, Nitish lived up to the expectations. He put his best foot forward on the law and order front. Criminals and musclemen were quickly brought to book. Perpetrators of the massacres that occurred in the past were punished irrespective of caste and political considerations. Bihar saw 6,839 convictions in 2006, 9653 in 2007, 12,007 in 2008 and 10,125 in 2009 (as of September).
In a 60-page progress report on his government’s performance, Nitish claims: "On the law and order front, the task was to build confidence among people and in the law enforcing machinery. We succeeded to a great extent in taking out the fear factor from the minds of people, both from inside and outside the state... Women can be seen moving around in cities and towns till late in the evening. A number of national and international events are taking place here, which is a clear indication that we have been able to instill confidence among people".
The Khagaria massacre, which claimed 16 lives in the first week of October this year, was the biggest blot on Nitish Kumar’s relatively ‘peaceful’ four-year track record in a caste-conscious state. But In this case, too, Nitish acted with alacrity and suspended the Khagaria SP and DSP for dereliction of duty. The police have already arrested the alleged mastermind and are claiming to have cracked the case on the basis of the interrogation.
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