Analysing the Bihar election: The victory of a million aspirations

After fifteen years the voters of Bihar have chosen to trust the NDA government once again. One can debate about the extent of close fight, the crucial fact remains that the NDA, its four components being BJP, JDU, HAM of Jitan Ram Manjhi and VIP of Mukesh Sahni have received an emphatic victory by having a clear comfortable majority. If some of the closely fought assembly constituencies, which the NDA candidates lost by a narrow margin would have been won, then easily the NDA would have got more than 135 seats. The spoiling nature of Chirag Paswan’s LJP also contributed. Therefore, if in spite of all these inhibiting factors the NDA got a clear majority then in the context of Bihar elections there is a need for greater objective scrutiny about the maturity of the voters of Bihar.

Bihar being an important state has its own heritage of caste, community and at times communal conflicts too. There is always an assumption that people vote on caste combinations and alignment only. Yet, the NDA won and we need to identify the real crucial factors which made this victory possible.

I have not the slightest doubt that this victory is the victory of hope and aspirations. If unemployment was being talked about and other narratives of development being projected in the campaign, the people of Bihar while deciding their voting preference also looked into the credentials of those who have the ability and capacity to deliver.

Bihar is my state and I know it being an activist there from my student days. Earlier, famine or flood relief was considered an entitlement during natural calamities. Therefore, Bijli and Sadak (power and road) was the dominant narrative. It goes to the credit of the extraordinary initiative of Narendra Modi government to improve the infrastructure in roads and electricity down to the villages ably assisted by the government of Nitish Kumar that people could see a perceptible change.

I remember during my campaign that I used to ask voters how long does it take to reach Patna, even while campaigning in constituencies close to Nepal border. The instant public response was – around four to five hours. Bihar today has got two central universities, one AIIMS at Patna, which did a commendable job during COVID; another AIIMS is coming at Darbhanga; eight medical colleges and nearly five new bridges on river Ganga to be constructed. Out of these, two have been completed against only two bridges since independence.

Today, Mithila and Koshi areas which got disconnected because of the earthquake of 1934 have received both a road and railway bridge over river Koshi. Patna today has a Chanakya Law Institute offering integrated five-year law course, NIFT, IIT and IIM at Bodh Gaya. Many places in Bihar now have BPOs and Patna has a TCS Centre too. These profound and perceptible changes rarely experienced in past aroused hope and trust.

However, the biggest transformation was the inclusive nature of the development. Women in particular benefitted from the gas cylinder in the Ujjwala scheme,the Direct Benefit Transfer both to the women and other beneficiaries enabled empowerment with regular financial assistance. The farmers became the beneficiaries of the PM Kisan getting Rs 6,000 every year directly into their bank accounts as well as getting social security pension under PM KisanMaanDhan Yojana.

Additionally, programmes like Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Nitish Kumar’s extraordinary initiatives of reservation for women in Panchayat and Government jobs and whole range of other assistances, PM Aawas Yojana, PM Garib Kalyan Package, toilets in every village and safe drinking water, all this created a narrative where people felt that they are no more entitled for charity only during natural calamities, but the government both in the centre and state were acting as enablers to improve their quality of life which created new aspirations and hopes.

In this election therefore the silent voters be it the women, be it the underprivileged the economically backward had a clear preference for the NDA because of the work of the state government, the extraordinary assistance of the central government for the development of Bihar and most importantly the powerful appeal of the Prime Minister cutting across caste and community.

The vision of Prime Minister of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas was clearly evident on the ground transgressing the narrow boundaries. However, their voices were silent which was never captured by the surveyor and the exit poll holder - it is also a lesson for them. COVID-19 was a fact of life not only for Bihar but for the entire world. But the heroic efforts of the Narendra Modi government by giving free food to nearly 8 crore people in Bihar and offering other forms of support for the migrant workers in which I must admit that the Nitish government too played a major role also struck a chord wit the people.

The Prime Minister is always clear that without the development of Bihar, India cannot develop, apart from his larger commitment for development of eastern India. I must place on record my gratitude to him that pursuant to his announcement to connect all 6 lakh Gram Panchayats with OFC, I sought his permission to connect all the villages of Bihar by OFC. He gave his permission and we have started the work to connect all the villages through the Common Service Centre.

Therefore, the narrative was who will deliver more and who will continue the march of development in Bihar. And in this, the ordinary unsung voters of Bihar trusted the NDA with Nitish Kumar as leader in Bihar and the Prime Minister as the twin engine to deliver actual growth. Credentials of delivery was believed more against the hollow promises. That I believe is the real essence of the Bihar verdict. Yes, people could not forget the curse of Jungle Raj, the overpowering fear which they have suffered for so many years. They chose to trust those who are time tested.

The people of my state have now become aspirational as young people. In my campaign, I found several youngsters recording my speech through a smartphone. When I asked them how many were on social media, thousands of hands used to go up, even in the remotest parts of the state. This is indeed a new narrative, a far cry from holding a Lathi during Lalu’s regime. Now people work with computers and have a presence on social media; and they enjoy the benefits of Digital India. We all grateful to the extensive campaign by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in different parts of the state. His continuing popularity helped swing the vote effectively. The voters of Bihar have trusted us and it is our promise that we will deliver.