Bihar was in the firm grip of bandh on account of arrest of an MLA the day I was supposed to catch my train from Bhagalpur to Delhi. I reached
Bhagalpur junction two hours in advance from my village and inquired about the
arrival of Garib Rath.
I gate crashed into inquiry room,
there appeared a young lady in her 20s, ensconced in her computer. What time
Garib rath is scheduled, I asked?
She looked up (smilingly) and
asked are you new to Bhagalpur? It is
always five-six hours late, she quipped. If Garib rath is 5-6 hours late, it’s not late, she told. She was right.
When Laloo ji was railways
minister, Gareeb rath used to run on time, but now nobody cares. Present
railways minister Suresh Prabhu is intelligent but there is no control over
timing.
As we all know Bihar politicians
have special liking for railways ministry yet state of railway functioning is
pathetic in Bihar. Garib Rath, which was supposed to take me Delhi the next
day was 10 hours late. I lost hope.
Add to more salt to my woes
was the bandh call given by JD(U) leader
Anant Singh’s supporter, who had been arrested a day before by the Bihar
police in a dramatic fashion.
Entire railway track stretching
from Bhagalpur to Patna was blocked at various places affecting normal running
of train beyond the control of Danapur division.
By the time I covered 200 kms
from Bhagalpur to Patna, I had changed five trains. This was the stretch where
I saw no TTE, no police, no paramilitary forces on the train.
“Indian trains runs in the name
of god in Bihar, very rightly observed harassed passengers. ( Bihar mein train
bhagawan ke bharose chalti hai.)
When you travel in a local train
and you don’t get involved in political discourse, its not possible. Arrest
of JD(U)’s Mokama MLA was the focus of discussion.
Why he was arrested and what will
Nitish gain from it? What Laloo will gain from the arrest and how it will
impact Kurmi, Yadav and Dalit votes in Bihar, our discourse was centred on
these issues.
“Nitish is doing everything to
please his former foe and now political ally, Laloo Yadav. Nitish is doing everything to retain his power.” (Nitish ji kursi par bane rahne ke liye kuch
bhi kar sakte hain)
Nitish kumar was nicknamed as
messiah of development (vikas purush)
during first term. What he did for Bihar was hailed by all and sundry.
Law and order was back on the
track in Bihar. Roads were repaired and rebuilt, schools were upgraded in
Bihar.
And overall image of Bihar, which
had become synonym of lawlessness (jungle
raj), had improved. Nitish government somehow managed to electrify
thousands of villages, which was a pipedream in Bihar. Now there is hardly any
sight of lantern in Bihar. Even small villages have metered power connections.
Many villagers admitted that people were persuaded to give up kundi connection
(illegal connection) and go for metered connections. During visit to a Paharpur
village near Munger, power situation was good. Villagers had no problem in
paying bills as regular power supply had made their lives cosy and less
uncomfortable.
This all happened in Nitish Kumar’s
first term, when he was with the BJP.
Will people of Bihar, who had
experienced 15 years of chaos in Bihar, will ever vote for Nitish-Laloo combine
is a difficult question to answer. Laloo is a changed man now, but why should
people vote for him, whose rule was synonymous with lawlessness.
Nitish was given thumping
majority in the hope that he will transform Bihar, bring development, investment
and industries, generate employment but nothing of this sort happened in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar gave up his job once
there was lot of opposition within his party and made Jitan Ram Manjhi the chief
minister. Nitish kumar thought that he will be a pawn (mohra) of the chief minister and he will run the government on his orders but Manjhi proved to be politically sharp and
unreliable.
Power equation in Patna changed but not the Patna city. Patna is still a dirty city. Flyover near railway
station is still incomplete even after 10 years. There is no sign of its
completion as poll is due in Bihar later this year.
Then what has changed in Bihar in
last 10 years of Nitish rule? Bihar is still busy playing with caste equations.
People have become more mature, more adaptable and less reactionary.
Meanwhile, train to Delhi is as
full as it was 20 years back. Confirmed tickets are never available in Bihar
trains as migration from Bihar continues at a very fast pace in the absence of industry
and employment. For me, flying out was one option, I explored.
PS: Living in Bihar still remains a great
struggle.
