NEW DELHI, 24 November 2005 — The chief minister-designate of India’s eastern state of Bihar vowed yesterday to pull the impoverished region out of darkness after scoring a landslide win in state assembly elections.
Nitish Kumar, who led a combine of the opposition Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to end regional strongman Lalu Prasad Yadav’s 15-year rule over the state, said the win Tuesday showed people’s desire for development.
“People were fearful about whether the elections could be free and fair and (Lalu’s) government could be removed, but both these objectives have been achieved,” he told reporters in the Indian capital.
“The myths are being exploded one after another. This government will be able to restore law and order. We will cooperate with all communities, all castes.”
Nitish was elected leader of Janata Dal(U) legislative party in Bihar.
His name was proposed by JD(U) MLA from Jokihat, Manzar Alam and seconded by legislator from Imamganj, Uday Narain Chaudhary. The proposal was unanimously adopted.
Later, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Sushil Kumar Modi was also unanimously elected as the leader of the legislative party in Bihar. Modi will take oath as deputy chief minister of the state today.
For years, Lalu, self-proclaimed defender of the downtrodden, relied on a combination of lower caste and Muslim votes to stay in power. News of Lalu’s trouncing was headline news on Indian front pages.
“Lalu’s Voterloo,” said The Times of India. “Bihar’s Revenge,” said the Hindustan Times. “The state has finally cast its vote for change, not voted (according to) its caste,” said The Indian Express, referring to the rainbow coalition of castes that voted for change.
Nitish said he would assemble an initially small Cabinet team of 14 people to restore law and order, put the state back on the development path and reduce social tensions.
“It is time that the rest of India realized that we cannot prosper as a country, we cannot become an empowered nation unless we address the growing regional imbalances,” Nitish wrote in an article in The Indian Express.
“It is not enough to have a seven-to-eight percent national growth and four percent agricultural growth if this growth is not spread evenly. That is why I think it is imperative we focus on the development of the eastern region.”
Nitish warned that continued neglect would turn the region into a breeding ground of Maoist rebels and result in a surge in organized crime.
India can only achieve its potential when the rest of the country “realizes it can’t let the east (Bihar) slide into darkness,” Nitish said.
Nitish, an engineer-turned-politician, will take office at a public ceremony in Patna, the state capital, today.
Lalu’s wife, Rabri Devi, was the last chief minister of the impoverished state.
Lalu quit in 1996 over corruption charges but ensured that Rabri, a primary school dropout and mother of nine, took over.
The RJD ruled densely populated Bihar until February when elections were called, but no party could rustle up a majority, forcing another election this month.
“Good governance is my first, second and third priority,” said Nitish yesterday after he landed in Patna to a greeting from hundreds of supporters, many of whom threw him marigold garlands.
