New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Bihar has been the only state in the Hindi heartland where the BJP hasn’t ever been able to secure a majority on its own but the 2024 Lok Sabha and the assembly elections next year will unveil the political landscape of the state, says a new book.
In “Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar”, Mrityunjay Sharma tells the story of Bihar’s plunge into an abyss of crime, corruption and economic ruin during the tumultuous decade of the 1990s, often referred to as the ‘jungle raj’ years.
Sharma traces the post-Independence socio-politics of Bihar and the momentous events leading up to the ’90s – the unravelling of long-standing Congress governments, the rise of OBC assertion with Lohiaite politics, the JP movement that put the spotlight on young leaders like Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar, Karpoori Thakur’s reservation formula, the rise of Naxal movements and the entry of socialist governments.
The author says Bihar is the only state in the Hindi heartland where the BJP hasn’t ever been able to secure a majority on its own.
“While in Uttar Pradesh, which at many levels seems similar to Bihar, the BJP has been able to secure decisive mandates in successive elections. The Hindu consolidation that seems to work well in Uttar Pradesh seems to bow down to caste considerations in Bihar,” he says.
He argues that the current uncertainty surrounding Nitish’s future leaves Bihar at a crucial political crossroads.
“The 2024 general elections and 2025 state elections will unveil the political landscape of Bihar, a region that has never succumbed to political complacency,” Sharma says.
According to him, Nitish has long been twisting and tossing to find a comfortable footing in Bihar and national politics and his political challenges seemed no less than his administrative challenges.
He says Nitish strongly believed in the political dictum that you have to be in power first to be able to do anything good.
“It may be the inclination to this principle that led him to concentrate power in himself and thus avoid any dangers to his party and government,” the author claims.
In a state where every regional party associated itself with a particular caste, such as the RJD with Yadavs, the LJP with Paswans, and the JMM with adivasis, Nitish took all possible measures not to be perceived as a Kurmi-centric party, the book, published by Westland, says.
Even later, the new party entrants in Bihar politics such as the RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), the VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party) and the HAM (Hindustani Awam Morcha) would identify themselves with the specific castes of Kushwaha, Mallah and Musahar respectively, it says.
Sharma also writes that Nitish slowly reined in the influence of strong personalities within the party, thus reducing the scope for multiple power centres.
“Unlike its predecessors, the JD(U) never suffered a split and was hardly affected when even significant names such as its Samata Party-founding partner George Fernandes or JD(U)- founding leader Sharad Yadav were shunted out.
“Nitish became both the president of the party as well as the leader of house legislators. Ironically, in this case, he followed all other regional parties in making the JD(U) an individual-centric party. He also made sure that the individual was him,” he adds.
The author says that coalitions have rarely had such longevity as has been seen in Bihar.
“Coalitions are delicately balanced partnerships and depend on a number of factors, such as the relative strengths of parties, overlap and contrast in messaging and vote banks, the electoral advantages of going alone versus as a coalition, and personal equations between senior leaders of the coalition,” he writes.
Sharma says the period from 1990-2005 was a long and tragic one in the recent history of Bihar.
“Ironically, tragedies often make for the most compelling stories. My book is a humble attempt to give the unfamiliar reader a chance to understand what it actually meant to live through the ‘jungle raj’ years of Bihar and how it pushed Bihar forever into the realm of irredeemable ignominy,” he says. PTI ZMN RB RB
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