With grandmaster Nitish Kumar taking oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for the tenth time, discussions centre on what makes him so special in the choppy world of politics. No one expected him or the NDA alliance to make a clean sweep of the assembly polls this time. In fact, a generational shift in state politics was anticipated – with a youthful Tejashwi Yadav of the JDU being cited in opinion polls as the best CM-face. Many thought Nitish Kumar would be packing his bags. At age 74, the evergreen Kumar returns to the CM post with a broad smile on his face that disarms even his worst rivals. CM-hopeful Tejashwi Yadav himself breaking his long silence and wishing Kumar well at this juncture reinforces such positive vibes.
Allegations of manipulation of the electoral verdict, mainly from a disheartened Congress party, would not stick for long on the CM or the BJP unless this is proven. The other ground realities that helped facilitate this massive victory for the NDA cannot be lost sight of either. The fact that Nitish Kumar’s party emerged as the largest party in the new assembly, winning four seats more than its associate the BJP puts the CM at the centre of this victory halo. Perceptions are that the large turnout of women for voting in a state, where lakhs of youths have moved to other states for work, helped the Nitish-led NDA immensely. Kumar’s transfer of `10,000 each for 21 lakh women under the Mahila Rozgar Yojana a month ago was more than what these poor beings aspired for. Irrespective of whether or not this huge sum was organised through questionable government means, the families of the poor in the state had reasons to cheer. The CM’s prohibition policy had already won him a huge fan-following among women. Nitish’s “Sadak, Pani” push, ensuring roads and water for every village, had also enthused women more than men. For ages, in the absence of these, they were at the receiving end. However, Bihar as a state remained poor, a reason why so huge a number of its population is working in other states as migrant labour. Nitish Kumar had no panacea for such grave ills of his state. He compensated those with offers like Sadak, Pani and doles.
Notably, several recent assembly elections have shown that crafty politicians wooed the poor masses with lollipops, grabbed their votes, and laughed their way to power. This happened in Karnataka, where the Congress promised freebies, regular cash transfers, free gas cylinders, and free travel for women on state buses. The Telugu Desam copied these and wrested power in Andhra Pradesh; and the Congress, again, in Telangana. Kerala’s LDF government too won a second term in 2021 by generous offer of kits and other incentives to the poor and ordinary masses. The BJP governments in the Hindi belt continue to win votes by whipping up Hindu religious feelings, as in the erection of the Ram Temple. Nitish Kumar opted to woo the women, rather than whipping up communal feelings. Both these strategies present their own problems for the nation.
