A couple of months back I was in Bihar, my home state, and the state was gearing up for elections. It was a completely personal tour to spend some time with my parents and family and I hardly interacted with any ‘outsider’, except when I had to venture out to take part in Money Mantra, a television show by NDTV Profit, where I was supposed to discuss “Business opportunities via social networking” (even though I’m yet to make any profit through social networking, I agreed for sake of being on television 
).
The television channel was kind enough to provide me a cab for commuting. While coming back home once the recording for the show was over, I decided to get into a chit-chat with the driver of the cab (it was in Hindi, but what follows is a translated version):
“Finally Patna seems to have roads where one can drive cars without much headache, no?” I started the conversation with the driver, who looked like someone in his late 30’s, and I’m ashamed not to be able to recall his name right now.
“Yes sir, a couple of flyovers have also come up, the traveling time has come down hugely, otherwise it would have taken more than an hour to get to your house,” he agreed. It had taken me around 15-20 minutes to reach the NDTV studio earlier.
“So, Nitish government has indeed done some development work?” I jumped to politics straightaway; not an oddity in Bihar for conversations between strangers.
“Well, yeah,” he seemed to agree, but not quite though.
“So what do you think? Nitish will come back to power?” I asked to confirm.
“If you ask me sir, I will say that he might win, but people would not give him so much power (majority) that he can do whatever he want,” his answer puzzled me further.
“But you just said that he has done development work, won’t you like him to win?” I prodded him further to know his opinion, a common man’s opinion.
“Yes sir, but these things – roads, water, electricity, security – are our basic needs. It is his duty to provide these things. If a government won’t even provide these things, what will it do?” he said.
“But Lalu Yadav’s government failed to provide even these basic things, no?” like a shrewd journalist, I was looking for a ‘sound-bite’ to get his approval for Nitish government.
“No doubt, Nitish has done far better than Lalu,” he obliged me, but quickly added, “but you people shouldn’t think that it will help Nitish Kumar sweep the elections, as many of my bosses think.”
By “you people” he meant NRBs (Non Resident Biharis), and by “bosses” he meant the journalists, or the so-called intelligentsia I guess.
So Nitish had done good work, in fact “far better” than what Lalu Yadav did, but that might not be enough for him to win the elections?
What the ‘common man’ is thinking, I wondered.
Then I recalled a story my father had told me when I was in Bihar during my school days. I guess it was late 1995 or so when either Lalu Yadav was seeking his first re-election or when he had already got back to power.
That period is supposed to be a dark chapter in the history of Bihar with the state witnessing high crime rate, economic collapse and migration of Biharis outside the state in pursuit of better opportunities.
At that time my father was working as a college reader in a suburban city called Bihar Sharif in the Nalanda district and used to commute almost daily from Patna, where we were staying so that we (me and my brother) could study in ‘better’ schools. So even within the state, there was migration; we had shifted to Patna sometime in 1991 for ‘better’ avenues.
The story I earlier referred to as having recalled by me after my discussion with the NDTV driver is a personal experience of my father in one of such trips to his college from Patna. He used to travel by buses and would usually read a book, but on that occasion he decided to join a discussion that was taking place in the bus. And not surprisingly, the topic of the discussion was politics.
People were discussing if Lalu’s government was good or not and the issue of law and order came up. My father happened to witness this dialogue (again, it was in Hindi and a translated version follows):
“Have you seen the crime level in the state? Each day there is some murder, kidnapping, dacoity. What is the government doing?” argued a person in the bus.
“What crap!” retorted another guy, who incidentally was sitting next to my father in the bus, arguing, “Arey tell me, you are going somewhere and some gunda comes, slaps you and takes away money from you. What can the government do in this?”
There should have been a stunned silence in the bus or an unbridled laughter at this point of time, but neither of these happened. The discussion was ‘normal’.
The guy looked towards my father to extract a supporting nod after he thought he made a valiant point in defense of the government. My father and others tried in vain to convince him that it indeed was the duty of the government to ensure the safety of each and every person on the road. He, along with some of ‘like-minded’ debaters, remained unconvinced.
That was how a ‘common man’, whom my father encountered, was thinking in those days.
I told you how the NDTV driver, the common man I encountered, is thinking nowadays.
And this is the change that has taken place in Bihar in span of just one generation.
The common man today is aware of what “development” really means and what the duties of a government are. There has been a sea-change in the awareness, aspirations, and expectations of the people of Bihar. They don’t see roads, water, electricity or security as any “luxury”, but as their “rights”, rather as their “birthrights”.
This change in mindset of the common man could be attributed to various factors, but I would, rightly or wrongly, credit Nitish Kumar’s government too for this. A Bihari that I know appreciates work done by Nitish government, but he wants “more”.
So, Congratulations Mr. Kumar for bringing this change, but you may lose the elections.
It’s true that the expectations and thought process of voters of Bihar has changed and they no longer just vote on caste basis. But do they have a better option than Nitish Kumar at present? They might want more, but only Nitish can provide more, Lalu can only provide them less and less!
I was not ‘predicting’ any results for the assembly elections, only tried to point out this change in mindset, which could ‘maybe’ go against Nitish Kumar (even though odds and opinion polls seem to favor him).
Say, there could be a situation where people who want “more”, but realize that there is no better option than Nitish, might skip voting (something that the urban middle/upper class has been doing for long in many cities) thus causing harm to Nitish’s chances of victory?
I hope Nitish wins big time! Even though I am not from Bihar, I am sick to the guts of a part of my country being spoken of in such a negative manner. Simply as an outsider the Nitish govt seems to have bought in a sea change in the state and its perception. And guessing by what the NRB’s have said about the state, he has done quite a lot, while it could be possible that people think that this is the bare minimum that the govt has to do, could people really be so forgetful so as to forget the state of affairs (not to long ago) when Lalu was in charge?
I really wish Nitish wins, it would not be only be good for the people of Bihar but for the whole country, as it will be a validation of the fact that democracy works, that fact that if you give to people, they will select you, if not, they will not.
Unfortunately, the ‘people’ really need “more” than just the development of middle class..
Otherwise, Neither Mr Vajpayee, or Mr Chandrababu Naidu, nor Mr SM Krishna would have lost their positions…. Mr Nitish Kumar is sitting on a very similar situation….
That’s unfortunate, yes.
plz dont compare S.M.krishna . He was the most corrupt cm of karnataka ..According to world bank .Do u know wat he did to cover up this he paid outlook and they in-turn praise him as best CM. Bangalore infrastructure has suffer a lot . no planing, no blue print etc …Mr Vajpayee, and Mr Chandrababu Naidu were really good for country.
Being a Patnite,i have seen the changes that hv taken place in last 5 years and the whole population of patna is really commendable of the work of Nitish Kumar.Reality speaking,Nitish kumar has in actually given people a Ray of hope.
I had feared so, and now it is confirmed, that YOU are a fellow NRB..
On Nitish Kumar’s fate.. Incidentally, I too had visited my hometown, Hajipur, and there was a strong sense of anti-incumbancy for the sitting BJP MLA who happens to be 1 of the 30 odd goons that BJP has fielded this time. People want Nitish govt to come back, but this MLA to go!
There are 30 odd BJP candidates and 28 JD(U) candidates who are “tainted”. I’m not too sure of their fate, especially if they are holding the office currently..
But looking at the alternatives – Laloo? seriously? The biggest goon of all.
It will be misleading to point out that goons exist in BJP only and not with JDU or with other parties.
Nitish has made few over bridges and has improved the condition of road in and around Patna. But the condition remains same in the other part of Bihar. I am from Pusa and nothing has changed there.
I have seen the post many places where Nitish has inaugurated the construction but has failed to monitor the operations. The condition of bridge being constructed remains same on the Budhi Gandak River connecting Pusa with Saidpur.
At least he should have a relook at the promises he made at the earlier election manifesto.
No doubt there is no alternative to Nitish..laloo no way .
I guess the anti-incumbency , together with the tiny groups of disgruntled citizens ( read temporary teachers,doctors etc who want their jobs be made permanent ,bureaucrats whose earnings have take a hit), might just not give him as many seats as he had received last time, but Nitish will certainly form government.
Their certainly is a change in aspiration, but the same might sink Nitish’s aspiration for next innings. Let’s wait and watch how the drama unfolds.
If Nitish Looses election, who will win, Lalu? will bihar not be pushed back to old ages once again??
I liked the way you wrote the article, but I don’t quite agree with what you intend to say.
Given the massive financial and political constraints that this government faced when it had taken over, I genuinely feel that NO other government could have outperformed this government’s performance.
Now we all know that Bihar will never touch the nadir all over again. But, a 2nd Nitish Kumar term would be hugely beneficial for Bihar’s future simply because of the massive investments that can materialize as soon as he gets back for the 2nd term. All said and done, rural industrialization is the keyword for Bihar’s prosperity, and this would only be possible if Nitish gets back to power, not otherwise.
Do they Say that NDTV is Nehru Dynasty TV. So you expect there wish written out?
I dn’t knw what people interpreted this “More” as…bt what i think is…after seeing the development and being satisfied with it(to quite an extent)…..what people expect from nitish is to support them..based on religion or caste..jst like narendra modi
Hey!
have been following you since quite some time now…and without any doubt I quite like your sense of humor…..and now I get to know that from where you derive all those funny connections….
, I am also a NRB …… and I very much echo similar sentiments you have written here about Bihar.
Well, it would be silly if I comment anything regarding the politics of Bihar on this page…..so I would leave it unsaid and better judged by the election commission.
Carry on the good work you are doing.
Cheers!
Interesting to read your articles, i truly hope Nitish govt comes back in bihar, it is such a welcome change to see Patna after all these years of hopelessness. As a fellow NRB i truly understand the sentiments.
Nitish kumar has made the people of Bihar realize that there is more to life than the basic amenities, which the goons like lalu yadav failed to provide in their 15 years of jungle raaj. But unfortunately as the games goes, its more about the caste politics and other factors except development that rules the mind of a “common bihari”. [referring to the people living in villages, at the end of the day they would be the deciding factor ]
I strongly hope that sense would prevail over the people of Bihar and they would choose back Nitish kumar for the second time. There has been lots of development work done by him .Hope that figures out in the minds of the people!
Lalu raped bihar man…what more do u want frm him
BetiC**d aisa blog aur website Ek Bihari ye likh sakta hai…….Bhaiya !!! maza aa gaya aapki Fakingnews & Blog padh kar.
its good to lose the seat in bihar in 2010 election beacuse he didn’t see the forward caste in the during 5th years of his administration
thats good to lose by nitish kumar………………………………..lalu ki jay ho……………….lalalalalu
Hi FN,
You know, public memory is too short- an article written 1 month back, no one is going to see for it again, even if it contains some sort of prediction…nice thought process. But I recall your “Letter to A. Roy” you do not form opinion by other peoples opinions- or at least get influenced by them…then what is this? Always remember you, me or that driver is too small to form national or state sentiments- Nitish is back, and so is the concept of power of majority..things going on pretty good..BJP again outcasting Congress, does it have to do something with your bias for either of the two national parties, inherited deep down your subconscious.
Never expected it from you, please don’t make such stunts for FN’s sake.
Hope you understand…
I NEVER predicted any results (refer to my comment above, put more than a month back http://blog.fakingnews.com/2010/10/congratulations-nitish-kumar-you-may-lose-the-elections/comment-page-1/#comment-186 in fact, I silently wished Nitish won!
The only thing I had said through this article, and I repeat, was that “mindset” of people in Bihar had changed a lot (and Nitish Kumar deserves the credit for that) – the masses now know what a government is expected to do and everyone wants development. Unlike in Lalu’s times, when caste-based rhetoric was enough to make them happy. The election results don’t prove it wrong.
And you happily forgot that I am a Bihari myself unlike Arundhati Roy, who is not a Kashmiri. I have spent more than 22 years in Bihar and don’t need one person’s soundbite to change my opinions. The driver’s opinion was a just a “peg”, around which I had to tell the story, story based on “my” belief – the welcome change Bihar was going through, where identity based politics has taken a beating from development based. I never mentioned the caste/religion of the driver.
I don’t need to form the opinion that Bihar had changed by interacting with just one person (if I were to, I’d have formed the opinion that Muslims in Gujarat threw Hindus in acid pools, refer to the Open letter to Arundhati Roy). That interaction with the driver just reinforced my belief that Bihar had changed and I used that to tell the story; you have clearly missed both the style as well as substance of the story told above.
Hope YOU understand.
In my heart there was a feeling that ntish can won the election because his spirits were very high.
All the best do hard work and win the people’s heart again next time.
plz dont compare S.M.krishna . He was the most corrupt cm of karnataka ..According to world bank .Do u know wat he did to cover up this he paid outlook and they in-turn praise him as best CM. Bangalore infrastructure has suffer a lot . no planing, no blue print etc …Mr Vajpayee, and Mr Chandrababu Naidu were really good for country.
BetiC**d aisa blog aur website Ek Bihari ye likh sakta hai…….Bhaiya !!! maza aa gaya aapki Fakingnews & Blog padh kar.
Thanks Pagal Patrakar!
It was really interesting(and a bit frustrating as well) to note that all the comments missed the real point you wished to make. People seem to have taken your words-”you may lose the elections” quite literally and forgot to “read” what was “meant”. I wish to let you know that I too feel the way you do about the change of mindset in Bihar, and almost everyone I shared this feeling of mine, misunderstood me for someone predicting-”Nitish Will Lose”.
I’m adding this comment well over 9 months after the elections, but I know I am not late because it was not primarily about the elections.
The name of NDTV Driver is Maqsood Bhai, lives in phulwari sharief, and was a staunch supporter of Laloo, but having seen development, he grudgingly acknowledges that Nitish Kumar is a better alternative