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Opinion

Nitish’s jinxed fate

It’s an irony that the man who led the state on the path of development is facing widespread protests for ‘bad governance’. In his first term as chief minister, Nitish was hailed as the ‘development man’ for making Bihar the fastest growing state in the country; his second term has been less momentous with the Opposition trying to upturn the same development plank.

After taking over the reins of the state from Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, Nitish was faced with the challenging task of developing the state that had been exploited throughly by the past rulers left, right and centre. Nitish did rise to the occasion and the state started clocking more than 11 per cent growth annually for the first time ever. It was as if the dark clouds had suddenly disappeared and the sun started shining brightly on Bihar.

He came back as chief minister for a second term in 2010 with a thumping majority in what was a clear indication that the people of the state had voted solely for his development agenda. But there are tides in the affairs of men. Now was the time for the low tide.

And so when he turned towards the Centre to demand special status for Bihar, his demand was turned down on the ground that such status was reserved only for hilly states. The development plank brought him to power again, and the development of the state became his sole aim in life and politics, so it seems. To drum up support for special status for Bihar in order to obtain central funds and special concessions, Nitish launched his
Adhikar Yatra
last month.   

He said the special status would help the state save between Rs 8,000-10,000 crore annually in taxes that could be used for strengthening infrastructure such as roads and power. It would also help the state attract investments as industrialists and entrepreneurs would be encouraged to avail tax concessions, which would in turn bring employment.

But there was another player in the whole saga waiting for the opportune moment to strike. During the same time when Nitish went on his yatra, Lalu Prasad launched his Parivartan Yatra as a counter. Lalu claimed that Nitish’s yatra
was part of the Janata Dal (United) leader’s bigger game plan to become the next prime minister. He said Nitish was least concerned about the development of the state which was reeling with lawlessness and corruption.

As if it was a bad omen for Nitish, his yatra was jinxed from the very beginning. He faced belligerent protests by contractual teachers, students and others wherever he went on the tour. Stones were thrown at his rally, an estimated 2,00,000 contractual teachers took to the streets, demanding pay parity with regular teachers. Black flags were shown to the CM, prompting the police to confiscate anything black, even
dupattas
of women. The ‘ban’ on duppatas at the CM’s rally made women protesters all the more belligerent, forcing the CM to announce that there was no ban on black cloth and action would be taken against the erring policemen.

Stung by protests during his Adhikar Yatra, Nitish slammed opposition parties for orchestrating the stir to ‘sabotage’ his campaign for special status for the state. Only four months ago during his Seva Yatra, no teacher protested and there was no demand for pay parity. He blamed the Opposition for the protests.

The question is has resentment been really  brewing in the minds of his people in the recent past? [IFS]
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