Bleak Bihar Future

My home state has an upcoming election in a few months, yet the middle of a pandemic! And no, I do not come from any state of the USA. I come from Bihar, about which it’s said that had it been a country, it would be ranked lowest in terms of human development index, poverty index and a score of other socio-economic indicators used across the world to measure prosperity and well-being. I could go on and on about what went wrong for my native place, but not today. Just want to stress that my state had once been a majestic capital city of the greatest kingdom south-east Asia has ever seen - Mauryan Empire! And today, I want to limit myself to what needs to be immediately done in the upcoming election.

Bihar suffers from lack of political foresightedness and willingness to do economic reforms. The state suffers from overdependence on agriculture (also land revenues) and only a few resources are left with the government to raise the living standards of the people. One urgent thing needed is to force politicians seeking votes to provide a clear outlay with their growth plan. The state cannot afford to continue being governed without any vision or mission. There should be a clear education, health and economic policy which could give the place its worth back. Post-COVID there will be a bigger risk of climate change and Bihar is projected to suffer from heavy flash floods and large scale devastation. There are numerous instances of uncontrolled diseases being spread like dengue, malaria, chikungunya, encephalitis, etc mostly due to municipal mismanagement.

We need a change - Every Bihari’s loud and clear voice in 2020 state elections!

I do not support (nor foresee) a radical change of the state’s political journey. I think that we will continue to have this current coalition government (BJP+JDU) influenced by the menace of communism (partly socialism to blame) which brings along lethargic governance. That path is very toxic and disruptive. However, I do not see much clarity among any party to bring about any good change either including Congress and RJD. I feel it’s time to bring new faces like Kanhaiya Kumar or Prashant Kishore in the state. The old guard has to fall, they have let down the expectations of the whole state. I do not see any better candidate in terms of education or appeal or vision than the ex-JNUSU leader or than the master manager.

WRT Kanhaiya, he has joined hands with those who are super corrupt and even promote jingoism. There are instances of RJD leader’s bribery, threatening to government officials and amassing wealth without remorse. I can only hope that this doesn’t continue. Beyond a doubt, I believe that only a young leader like Kanhaiya or Kishore (or any new face from BJP) could potentially bring a good fortune to the state, including a meritocratic tendency among the political class. For now, it looks like because of his alliances with the infamously corrupt parties like RJD and Congress, he will suffer too, like a good person stuck with the wrong team. Despite being in limelight and teasing a promising dream for sometime in past few years, Kishore has been sidelined by BJP these days for some unknown reasons. BJP on the other hand is known to bring new faces to the table, up from its deep pracharak-level ranks, ex in case of Haryana where the CM turned the economy towards a higher growth. The incumbent BJP, this time, however, has nothing new to say other than play the blame game.

I hope that this election brings some new hope to the state. If my wishes run through it, I would want folks like Kanhaiya to take charge and throw away the old guard of RJD, BJP, Congress and JDU altogether. We need a fast, energetic government who can give a positive outlook to our economy and can work hand in hand with the central government.