Usually a comparison is made of his 15 year rule with that of the rule of Lalu Prasad. But there is very little difference. People feel happy that crime has gone down and women now venture to move around on the streets of Patna even in the late evenings.

But people tend to ignore that the person who had come to power for development and growth of the state has miserably failed to keep his promise. A decent law and order which has been the prerequisite for achieving the objective has been missing. Of course one development has taken place he has created a new class of crony players who are busy looting the government funds and resources. No doubt Lalu did not have that mental orientation to go for development. He did not spend the government funds. This has primarily been responsible for letting lose the criminals to loot people and make money.

It is sad that of the present lot of opposition leaders none has that vision and this is basically responsible for Nitish enjoying the TINA label. It was expected of Tejashvi Yadav that we would emerge as the voice of modern Bihar. But he could not articulate that skill. He was caught in the family quagmire and lost much of precious time.

The way the political parties are running their business in Bihar it gives the impression that leaders have resigned their fate and are completely at the mercy of some ethereal forces to help them.

Dialectically Bihar is the only state which has vital potentials for launching a movement and evolving a new political party which could salvage the state from the current muddle. But it does no appear to be happening. Talk to a opposition leader he would lament at the prevailing situation, but shows no urgency even for forging an alliance amongst themselves.

Just before lock-down a group of veteran activists singly and in twos and threes met general secretaries of the three communist parties, some senior leaders of the Congress party and of the RJD. They discussed a wide range of issues. They conveyed to the leaders of these parties the need for a broad unity in the context of the forthcoming Bihar assembly election but the passive attitude of the leaders reflect that they not moved to act.

Lack of a credible and acceptable to all leader has even forced even the BJP leadership to tolerate Nitish, his truants and project him as their leader. Most of the leaders those who are ministers in the Nitish led NDA government lack correct perspective of the state. Accusing and launching insinuation against Lalu and blaming him for all the ails that the state has been suffering even after 15 years of the NDA rule has been their past time job.

Though the elections to the state assembly would be held in November, it is desperation of the BJP and especially of Amit Shah that has forced the BJP to launch its election campaign. The nature of the desperation cold be gauged from the simple fact that while corona continues to ravage the state and millions of the poor people are sitting crossed fingered pondering over their future, the BJP has commenced its virtual rallies spending hundreds of crores on such shows. The party had spent around 144 crores on fixing LEDs during the first virtual rally.

It is not that this extravagant expenditure has gone unnoticed. The poor and the migrant labourers who have come back to their homes nursing the illusionary view of survival have witnessed this profligate expenditure. These people may be fools for Amit Shah but they are certainly not blind to the pomp and show that was on exhibit.

Never before in the history of Independent this nature of opportunity has come across the parties vowing to empower and liberate the rural poor from the clutches of exploitation and oppression to keep their pledge. But they have miserably failed. They remained a passive spectator to the capitalist exploitation. Nothing could be more disgraceful than it.

But it really sad that the opposition parties are yet to come out of their slumber and start preparing for the crucial battle in the right manner. The problem with these parties has been they simply look at the election as winning or losing the election. They fail to visualise how the democratic institutions were being trampled and the fundamentals of the multi culturalism and plurality are being shattered by the BJP. They also fail to comprehend that how the fascist forces and vigilantes have been tearing away the basic fibre of the governance and democratic functioning of the country.

Like the past elections this time too there is every possibility that this election would witness three cornered fight amongst Janata Dal (United)-led National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance’ and Left Front. It was expected that RJD would show some amount magnanimity and try to float a broader alliance of all the opposition including left. But it does not appear to be happening. If the sources ae to be believed the RJD leadership is scared of the young CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar and the reasons which prompted the RJD to oppose him in the Lok Sabha election still hold relevant for the RJD. If Kanhaiya had won the election it would have certainly changed the political contour of Bihar.

The ground reports suggest, migrant workers returning to Bihar are not happy with the Modi as well as Nitish governments. It is not the denial of food and basic needs for survival instead it is the trampling of their pride that has hurt them. These people never expected that their leaders would treat them as serfs and untouchables. The true colour of the messiah of the poor and the ‘development man’ of Bihar lies exposed in the plains of Bihar.

Experts argue that Nitish’s appeal would work magic among extremely backward castes (EBCs) and Kurmis accounting for 26 per cent and 4 per cent of the total electorates. Things are quite different in Bihar. The ill treatment meted out to migrants has completely changed the political narrative.

Nevertheless the assertion of Amit Shah that NDA would come to power with two third majority must not dismissed casually. An eye must be kept on his activities and at the same time the opposition in the greater interest of protecting democratic institutions should come together. Bihar is still to come out of the blind alley. Opposition must reach out to the migrant labourers, the productive forces in the country and ensure they get the justice.

There should be principled commitment to a programmatic unity among parties and not just last-minute seat sharing. For programmatic unity, Kerala’s example of remarkable achievements in social development is a good, tangible reference point. There is need for a big alternative given the present political situation as democracy is in danger. (IPA Service)