Even earlier, all visitors to the state, and even members of Lalu Prasad's own party, the RJD, had noticed the distinct change in atmosphere which Nitish Kumar had brought about. The despondency of the recent past was gone and the fear of leaving home after dark was much less. Although the Chief Minister's decision to spend some time in tents in the villages was seen as a gimmick, there have been indications of the roads and even national highways, which had disintegrated some distance from the towns, being rebuilt.

Now, to confirm the turnaround, the CSO data show that Bihar grew at the rate of 11.03 per cent in the last five years, just the period when Nitish Kumar has been in power. What is remarkable is that the growth rate is on a par with Gujarat's 11.05 per cent. This is clearly good news not only for the JD (U) leader, but also his ally, the BJP, which hasn't had much to cheer about recently. The BJP can now claim that the states where it is in power like Bihar, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are doing well in economic terms.

Bihar's case is different because it was the virtual leader among the BIMARU states with half its 80 million people under the poverty line. When the JD (U)-BJP government assumed office in 2005, negating the Congress-appointed Governor Buta Singh's earlier attempts to keep Nitish Kumar out, few had much hope about its future. The abysmal levels to which the state had sunk made its fleeing citizens, who are derisively called Harrys in Delhi and elsewhere, the butt of unkind jokes.

Only a few days ago, Delhi's Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, reiterated her old complaint about Biharis crowding the national capital. In Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray is merrily building a political career out of bashing Biharis (along with the Bhaias from U.P.) with the annual Chhat puja giving his goons a chance to go on the rampage.

There may not be a perceptible decline in the emigration of Biharis in search of livelihood to other states in the near future, but the high growth rate cannot but ultimately have an impact. If the state government's drive against the criminals proves to be successful, then the investors will not hesitate to return to the state. For Nitish Kumar himself, the focus on the bijli-sadak-pani factor will also mean a relatively secure political future.

It is unclear what led to the slight jolt which he experienced last September when the RJD-LJP combination won more seats than their opponents in the by-elections to the assembly. The RJD won the highest number of seats - six - in the 18 constituencies which went to the polls with its partner, the LJP of Ramvilas Paswan winning three. The JD (U) also won three and the BJP two, but Lalu Yadav's good showing after the earlier setbacks in the parliamentary polls was surprising.

Perhaps Nitish Kumar had become somewhat complacent. Perhaps his appearance with Narendra Modi on the same dais during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections had rekindled the old fears among the minorities. Whatever the reason, there is little doubt that he will continue to have to focus intensively on development if he wants to stay ahead.

He owes Bihar a reprieve after the electorate turned to him in desperation in 2005 after 15 years of Lalu Yadav's virtually deliberate disregard of developmental efforts. The latter's belief that the MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank would always stand by him proved woefully wrong because of the realisation among the voters that safety (for Muslims) and self-respect (for the backward castes) were not enough if there were no schools, no health centres, no roads and no electricity.

It was their belief that Nitish Kumar would not bank on the caste factor alone, which was responsible for his electoral success. He has proved true to his word. Although he has played the usual divisive games by singling out a new group, the extremely backward castes, for preferential treatment, he has realised the prime importance of the bijli-sadak-pani factor.

If the CSO figures are true, he is on the right path. The state, which was regarded as one of the best administered in the 1960s, and which was described as the opposite of Shining India in Arvind Adiga's novel, The White Tiger, is seemingly on the mend. Unlike Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, the Bihar chief minister has shown that the secret of success lies in the advancement of all sections of people, and not specific caste groups alone. (IPA Service)