The illusionist of Bihar

Rohtas district, Bihar. A sunny October day. A cavalcade of vehicles full of policemen and government officials screeches to a stop at the edge of a mining quarry. Getting out of his car, District Magistrate Anupam Kumar surveys the scene below — the ravaged Kaimur hills, scarred by illegal mining; stone crushers lumbering like prehistoric beasts; huge mounds of rocks that resemble pagan funeral sites. The quarry, running without valid papers, belongs to a politician in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ruling combine — senior BJP leader Gopal Narayan Singh. Welcome to Nitish Kumar’s Bihar Shining. Ironically, Rohtas is home to the legendary Raja Harischandra and named after his son Rohitashwa. Nitish may have fashioned himself as Bihar’s Harischandra, but the truth has many faces in Bihar. Based on the data of  the National Election Watch (NEW) and Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), 58 of the 141 Bihar MLAs who have criminal cases pending against them belong to Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United). After the 2005 Assembly elections, 39 of 86 JD(U) MLAs faced criminal cases.

THE POPULIST AND POPULAR DISGUST

To keep communicating with the people of Bihar, Nitish has undertaken six yatras in the state, the latest being the ongoing 1,000-km Sewa Yatra. But of late, it is being stopped too often by mass protests. One of Nitish’s recent Janata Durbars saw policemen who haven’t been paid salaries for months protesting by taking off their clothes en masse. Needless to say, they were removed as quickly as the clothes.

In the performance report card 2011 released last week, Nitish claims “the police have been made more efficient, friendly and accountable than before and this has led to improvement in crime control and investigation.” Reported cases of murder in 2004 have come down to 2,465. The number of kidnappings for ransom is down from 411 to 42. But former Union rural development minister and Lalu Prasad Yadav associate Raghuvansh Prasad Singh disagrees. “The factual report on Bihar along with Nitish’s ration card will be published by us (RJD) soon. We’re also starting a website. The hypocrisy and pretense of his government will be exposed — sirf hawa mein danka bajana bandh ho jayega (blowing his own trumpet will stop).”

But true to his word, Nitish has added 33,000 kilometres of roads, connecting remote villages and mofussil areas. The construction of National Highways, rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, and rail and road bridges have boosted Nitish’s prestige. But the wayside crowds allege roads are being laid down just a few days before the Sewa Yatra arrives. Roads are not the only issue. Bihar’s cities are suffering 12-14 hour-long power-cuts. Nitish lays the blame on the Regulatory Commission and the heavy financial losses in the energy sector due to subsidies. Says Shakeel Ahmad, former Congress Union minister of state for home, “The Bihar Chief Minister’s popularity is on the decline. In the current set-up, Nitish is not just the CM, he’s the only functioning minister, only political leader in his party. It’s a one-man show, therefore not easy to run.” Recently, thousands of people gathered in Katra, Muzaffarpur district, to protest against government corruption. Nitish stayed put within the block office and refused to come out. From his village Bishnapur in Muzaffarpur, Ahmad told The New Sunday Express: “The CM had to take refuge in the BDO office to save himself from the brickbats of the locals, many of them women.” In a story-telling mood, so typical of Bihar politicians (during his Delhi days, Nitish too used to regale visitors with anecdotes on his rivals, especially Lalu Yadav), Ahmad recounts a personal experience to highlight how Nitish “is losing control” over the state administration. A burnt transformer in a neighbouring village forced Ahmad to call up Nitish. The Bihar Electricity Board Chairman called him to assure him the needful would be done. Ahmad says the “engineer concerned despite the CM’s intervention simply refused to undertake the repair work,” without a bribe. The village has been without power for the last three months. “A situation such as this could be quite unthinkable in Gujarat, where few would dare to dishonour Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s word,” says Ahmad. “No action against corrupt officers and local dealers is initiated,” says Sudhanshu Kumar, mukhia of Naya Nagar Panchayat, Samastipur. Cases of corruption in Indira Awas Yojana and MGNREGA schemes have been widely reported from different parts of the state. The diversion of foodgrains for PDS was around 40 per cent in 2010-2011. With just 7.38 per cent fund utilisation, Bihar ranks at the bottom of states utilising the MGNREGA fund (2010-11). BJP General Secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad defends Nitish: “There may be isolated instances of corruption that can be probed, but Nitish has won all-round approval for his agenda to weed out corruption. This has also reflected in the awards that the state, under Nitish, has won.”

 THE MEDIA IS HIS MESSAGE

The India Corruption Study 2010 confirmed corruption is prevalent at every level in Bihar. About 66 per cent of respondents  said corruption has increased in the last two years. Interestingly, the study exposed the media by disclosing the fact that only .01 per cent of news related to corruption in Bihar was published. “When the people in power are indulging in corruption, how can the system be transparent? Scams in excise, Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) land allotment to close relatives of ministers and senior IAS officers are galore. The government’s image is all about the media-managed marketing of Nitishji,” says CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. RTI activist Purander Swaran says government advertisements in both print and electronic media have increased manifold. When Nitish came into power, state expenditure on advertisements was around Rs 4.49 crore. In 2007-08, it reached Rs 9.65 crore. In 2008-09, the state government spent around Rs 25.25 crore on advertisements. It rose to Rs 28.47 crore last year. On November 24, 2009, the fourth anniversary of the Nitish government, advertisements worth Rs 1.15 crore were released to 24 different national and regional dailies in a single day. “With such huge revenue coming from the state government, how can journalists afford to write critical reports on Nitish Kumar?” asks Swaran.

Flood relief money reportedly hasn’t reached most villages. Foodgrains are not available to the poor under the Public Distribution System. The grant of land for the Aligarh Muslim University in Kishanganj has acquired political overtones. However, statistics show the state has made a quantum leap in literacy. Enrolment in schools has increased, thanks to mid-day meal schemes of the Central Government. Free bicycles and uniform incentives to girls by the state government have helped. Bihar recently appointed more than 2.3 lakh teachers under the Centre’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme, but newspapers reported most of them cannot spell. “With the appointment of sub-standard teachers, the quality of primary teaching has deteriorated drastically,” says academic Prof R N Sharma.

THE ECONOMIC CONJURER

Bihar’s turnaround was the result of a boost in the growth rate of Gross State Domestic Products (GSDP). This year it was 14.5 per cent, the country’s highest. The GSDP average growth rate between 2004-05 and 2008-09 was 11 per cent. Nevertheless, Bihar, India’s poorest state, has the highest inflation rate at 14.8 per cent.

A rural Bihari lives on an average of `26 a day — the lowest in India. Noted economist Prof N K Choudhary says Bihar’s growth story reveals less and conceals more. “Agriculture and allied sectors on which about 80 per cent of the state’s population depends, has registered a negative growth rate thrice in the past six years,” he says. “The current growth trend is creating islands of development in Bihar’s ocean of poverty.” Economists argue even a small increase in GSDP/NSDP (Net State Domestic Product) in absolute terms would give an impressive picture in the growth rate because of the low calculation base. Bihar’s NSDP nearly doubled from `66,040 crore in 2004 to `1,19,443 crore in 2008-09. But statistical confusion reigns: the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) says GSDP between 2008 and 2009 was 11 per cent. However, the same, based on Bihar’s Economic Survey 2008-09, shows 7.3 per cent. Between 1999-2000 and 2008-09, GSDP grew at an average annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent (CSO), but at 6.1 per cent, according to the Economic Survey, with two years of negative growth rate under the RJD. According to state government data, Bihar has 1.5 crore BPL families. However, calculating the average household has five members, 7.5 crore of Bihar’s total population of 10.3 crore — or 75 per cent — live below the poverty line. The benefits of higher growth are being cornered by a small section of urban elite. Despite all the hype, private investors have shown little interest in the state. The negligible generation of power is a major challenge for the government, says KPS Keshri, the President of Bihar Industries Association. The state has the lowest per capita power consumption: 122.11 KWH; the national average is 778.71 KWH. Partisanship rules: sons and daughters of senior ministers, legislators and bureaucrats have been allotted prime plots of BIADA land without floating tenders. Urvashi Shahi, who got 87,000 square feet of land in Vaishali district, is the daughter of state HRD minister Prashant Kumar Shahi who was the Advocate General of Bihar till November 2010. Rahmat Fatima, the daughter of Social Welfare Minister Parween Amanullah and Water Resources secretary Afzal Amanullah, was allotted 87,120 square feet of land in Bihiya, near Patna. Parween is the daughter of former diplomat and self-proclaimed Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin. MLA Rahul Sharma, the son of JD(U) MP from Jehanabad, Jagdish Sharma, got 15,500 square feet of land near Hajipur, Vaishali district, in the name of his company M/s Devlok Agro Beverage Private Company Ltd. Saurabh Agarwal, son of Ashok Agrawal, BJP MLC and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi confidant, received two plots of land measuring 13 lakh square feet and 2,46,000 square feet each in Forbesganj, Araria district. “Nitish is running the most corrupt government in Bihar,” says Lok Janshakti Party boss Ram Vilas Paswan who insists it is public sentiment and not a mere political statement. “The Bihar CM has little control over the state’s bureaucracy. Except over a handful of babus whose wives and sons have been given election tickets and government land, no one listens to him.”

This may not be strictly true, but what is more worrisome than nepotism is the recriminalisation of politics. When Nitish came to power in November 2005, he projected a reformist image. Not a single MLA or MLC protested when the much-misused MLA Local Area Development fund was scrapped. He initiated speedy trials of criminal politicians like Shahabuddin, Anand Mohan, Pappu Yadav and others. But many politicians with notorious reputations were protected and promoted, too. This list includes JD(U) legislators Anant Singh, Munna Shukla and Sunil Pandey. With a three-fourths majority in the Assembly — 206 of 243 — and a complete grip over his party, Nitish could have mustered the courage to cleanse the system totally. “This was the right time for him to invite new enlightened faces into the state polity,” says Prof R N Sharma of Patna University.

Nitish claims Bihar has undergone a complete transformation on the law and order front. Statistics tell a different story. In 2005, the number of recorded cognisable offences was 1,04,778. In 2011, it stood at 1,37,572. “The culture in the working of police has hardly changed in all these years. The police need modern training and a people-friendly approach without delay,” says Patna High Court lawyer Dr S N Sinha. May-July 2011 has seen a dramatic rise in crime across the state. On July 26, Home Secretary Amir Subhani held a meeting with DGP Abhayanand to take stock of the situation. The DGP was ordered to set up an on-the-ground system to monitor crime at the thana level.  A worried Nitish has ordered each thana in-charge (SHO) should be held responsible for crimes in their jurisdiction. Police sources say that the nexus between criminals and cops exists at the level of the DSP and below. Bihar’s mafia may have been neutered by bringing in clean bureaucrats and policemen at the top level; but the clout of petty criminals has only increased. If the CM’s opponents are to be believed, the big dons who once terrorised lawless Bihar have been awarded public works contracts like roads and buildings to keep them out of mischief. They have also reportedly entered the three-tier Panchayati Raj institutions in a big way.

Criminals seemingly continue to get protection. Last week, when the young Patna SP, Shivdeep Lande, raided business establishments that manufacture adulterated sweets, medicines and cosmetics, he was transferred to a remote district 350 km away from Patna on a direct order by Nitish. It was done in such a hurry that the post lay vacant for two days. Lande’s transfer brought students and residents on the city streets. A girl who was publicly molested and her father assaulted in Patna over a month back asked, “Now whom will  I ring up for protection?” The Magadh Mahila College girl had Lande’s mobile number, and action was taken when she contacted him after the incident.

PLAYING SECULAR FOR 2014

Nitish watchers think he feels Bihar has become too small for his ambitions. He has managed to package himself as a secular, progressive leader who cleaned up one of India’s darkest states. The Congress, reeling under scams, internecine strife and a collapsing economy, seems to have lost credibility. The BJP is not showing any signs of announcing a figurehead for 2014, apart from the ageing L K Advani. Nitish’s relationship with Advani is aimed at an advantageous polarisation within the BJP: Narendra Modi versus the rest. Nitish realises that Modi, with his mass base, is the only capable challenger when the die is cast in 2014. He is keeping both options — the Congress and BJP — open. His relationship with the BJP is one-sided. Aware that the saffron party needs him more than he needs it in Bihar, Nitish is playing the national card in state politics.

It’s obvious that the communal agenda is not an unfamiliar arthasastra for Kumar: if Modi plays the Hindu card in Gujarat, Nitish plays the Muslim card in Bihar — he has successfully projected himself as the champion of the Pasmandas, and the Mahadalits who have a huge Muslim lower caste contingent. Admits Prasad: “We have our differences with Nitish on the issues of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.” The struggle between the Ashraf Muslims, who form the Muslim elite in Bihar, and the Dalit Muslims dominates the caste politics of the state. Nitish cannily supported the Pasmandas. On October 8, 2005, feeling betrayed by Lalu’s lack of support, seven Pasmanda Muslim parties called for the defeat of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD); 63.64 per cent of Muslims who contested elections from RJD seats lost and 44.4 per cent of JD(U) Muslim candidates won. BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain, himself from Bihar, offers a different perspective. “Nitish doesn’t look at issues from the prism of majority or minority votes.” But his minority caste arithmetic may be running out of numbers. Ahmad says, “Nitish’s troubles will be compounded in the coming days as his strategy of dividing the Muslim community has not really worked. Lalu tried and failed.’”

It’s a delicate balance. It’s not just the NDA that is a bishop on Nitish’s chessboard. He has thrown the Congress conciliatory carrots, too. Nitish recently announced Rahul Gandhi was “the natural leader of the Congress”. Hussain lamely says that Nitish is known for promoting youth.Prasad is more forthright. “Nitish’s anti-Congress credentials are impeccable. Didn’t he also say that if Rahul was interested in a long-term career in politics, he should first try to become the chief minister of a state?” Nitish’s recent diatribe against Team Anna has been applauded by senior Congress leaders.

In Bihar, the Sewa Yatra caravan has many more miles to go. Its charioteer, meanwhile, hopes when the dust settles, it would have reached Indraprastha.

The Minority Cardplayer Grand slam

Caste, the inadmissible but critical factor in minority politics, played a major role in Nitish Kumar’s ascendancy. The Pasmanda Muslim movement’s political slogans, ‘Vote hamara fatwa tumhara, nahi chalega’ (your dictate on our vote will not work) and ‘jo pasmanda ki baat karega, wahi Bihar pe raaj karega’ (those who concede the demand of Pasmanda will rule Bihar) caught the imagination of the Muslim poor. On July 23, 2005, the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (PMM) held a meeting to discuss ‘reservation for Dalit Muslims’. Both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar attended. Nitish supported the cause. Lalu didn’t. The Pasmandas accused Lalu of only promoting the FM-Y (Forward Muslim-Yadav) alliance helping upper caste Ashraf Muslims. The RJD had 14 Muslims MLCs in 1990, out of which 12 were upper-caste Muslims. All seven Vice Chancellors appointed were from upper castes. So were government posts like teachers, posts in the police department and in minority institutions. Fortunately for Lalu, Babri Masjid consolidated the Muslim vote. Still Lalu continued patronising upper caste Muslims. By 2005, Laoo realised the mistake but it was too late. The Pasmandas are charged by Muslim organisations like the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Milli Council, Majlis-e-Mashawarat, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat-Ulema- i-Hind (JUH), Imarat-e-Sharia, and Adara-e-Sharia for being pro-Hindutva and anti-Islam for raising forbidden issues. Meanwhile, the majority of Mahadalits are Muslim. Nitish’s patronage of the two gets him the majority Muslim vote, as he balances his ‘secular’ tag and the partnership with BJP.

The writer is the Editor of Bihar Times

(with bureau inputs)