Bihar gains new political significance
The recent decision of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to grant a special package to Bihar — a poor state in eastern India — is being viewed as a politically motivated move. It is also being seen as an attempt on part of the government to woo the Janata Dal (United) party presently ruling Bihar along with the BJP.
The announcement of Rs 12,000-crore (Rs 120 billion) package assumes political significance as it comes at a time the war of words between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is intensifying with regard to the prime ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections.
Recently, Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had reiterated his party’s stance against projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
In short, the JD-U has recently signaled that it may part ways with BJP-led coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), if Modi leads the electoral campaign as the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance.
The timing was just perfect for the Congress to make political overtures to the JD-U-led Bihar government with Nitish Kumar as chief minister. Of course, political squabbles have begun on what does the package announced by the central government really mean. Naturally, it is as yet too early to expect the JD-U to state that the party is seriously considering forging an alliance with the Congress. But the Congress can very well be expected to consider a political handshake with the JD-U.
Of the 40 members from Bihar in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of Parliament, 20 are from JD-U. Only three are from an ally of the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Laloo Prasad. The position of Congress is quite dismal. The party won only two seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. With one of the two legislators, Meira Kumar, having been appointed as Speaker of Lok Sabha, the Congress is represented in this House by only one legislator, Maulana Asrarul Haque.
The 120-billion package may thus have been announced to signal that if the Congress-led government comes back to power, Bihar will stand to gain a lot. Having performed miserably in Bihar, the Congress is well aware that to improve its position, it needs to give a serious consideration on reaching some strategic understanding with parties having a strong base in the state. At present, JD-U falls in this category.
The BJP, which won almost a quarter of the 40 seats from Bihar in previous Lok Sabha elections, may not have succeeded in absence of an alliance with the JD-U. From the BJP’s angle, it cannot afford to lose a key ally in the JD-U. Not surprisingly, Bihar’s BJP leader, Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also the state’s deputy chief minister and finance minister, has strongly criticized the Rs 120-billion allocation as “illusory.” Besides, he lauded the NDA government for having announced the package when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister. The NDA announced the package after separation of Jharkhand from Bihar, so “there is nothing new in this,” according to Modi.
However, the JD-U has so far adopted a cautious and diplomatic approach toward the package. President of the party’s Bihar unit B.N. Singh stating that as it falls short of their expectation of Rs 20,000 crore, “there is nothing to welcome approval of Rs 12,000 crore under BRGF (Backward Regions Grant Fund).” The political message may be read as, if the Congress expects to reach some political understanding with the JD-U, it needs to consider allocating more funds for Bihar’s development.
The development package and the JD-U’s response carry yet another message, which cannot be sidelined. There has been a tremendous increase in political importance of Bihar at the national level. This development is marked by a parallel increase in politicians from Bihar asserting themselves with a new fervor, conveying the message that they are proud to be Biharis. This message bears it own significance as in several parts of the country, while Bengalis are generally believed to be intellectuals, Biharis are not given the same importance.
The revolutionary manner in which Bihari leaders and people have asserted themselves in recent years has considerably shattered the conventional notion of Bihar and its people. This backward image of Bihar can be attributed to a number of factors. However, history is witness to a rich and glorious past of the state. It is indeed a strange irony that despite Bihar being historically known as a center of learning, having universities like Nalanda University, where the famous Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang spent 12 years as a student and a teacher in seventh century, Bihari identity has seldom commanded much respect. India’s first president, Dr. Rajnedra Prasad, who was also a great freedom fighter, hailed from Bihar. And these are just a few instances of great personalities who hailed from Bihar.
Undeniably, in today’s political era, the identity of the Indian Bihari has assumed far greater significance than it was held a few decades ago. This has also contributed to Biharis spread practically all over the world and various parts of the country demand greater attention now than earlier and also being viewed differently. The rally held recently in Delhi by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar strongly asserted the political identity of his party (JD-U) and that of the Bihari vote. Politically, Bihar cannot be ignored any longer where national politics is concerned. Even the Congress has understood this message.
The Rs 12000-crore package does not simply indicate the Congress› attempt to woo JD-U to its camp. It also signals that the center has no option but to give greater importance to the new political image being asserted by Bihar. The state and its role in political power play at the center and in Bihar are now being looked upon with a new vision. Irrespective of whether more financial packages are announced for Bihar or not, the recent developments certainly suggest the new importance of the Bihari identity!
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