NDA has won the polls defeating the Mahagathbandhan. It was a close fight and anti-incumbency factor had been a driving force for the masses, especially the youth. Bihar has the highest number of young population of below 25 years of age. It is a disappointment for them to see the same forces coming back to power whom they opposed. As the present and future of the state, youth has been at the receiving end since long.

In last decade and half, no step was ever taken to rescue the state from floods and draught. Agrarian issues have been haunting the farmers. Nitish Kumar had abolished APMC in 2006 itself, and the farmers have been bearing the brunt since then. This year itself, they had to sell paddy at the rate of Rs 800 per quintal while its rate has been Rs 1800. On the issue of land reform, Nitish government remained equally indifferent.

There is no employment. Since 2016, when the rate of unemployment was 4.4 percent, in 2020 it has slipped down to 9.8 percent. Noor Muhammed, while speaking to a reporter of a channel, said he had qualified for a government job for which he had applied, but it was now almost three years and appointment letter was yet to come. The youth in Bihar wants exclusively to get filled the vacancies in various sectors like health, education or the regularisation of scheme workers.

Mahagathbandhan stood for the issues raised always by the Left. The entire state remained galvanised by the new possibilities and the optimism. And even after the defeat, the moment has not lost its potential, even without the victory. It is the new awareness that radiates strength. The revival of Left, with its promises, generates hope. It is rising from the lowest depths. The approach of no-caste-jobs-for-all has a particular appeal for the downtrodden. For this, the context was prepared by RJD founder Lalu Yadav who strived for the dalit and the backward, as against the upper caste exploitations. Now Tejashwi has moved one step ahead, removing the caste issue totally and stressing development, social as well as economic.

The voters providing the edge to NDA belong mainly to the middle income groups, apart from those coming from the higher levels, and then those from the upper castes. In the aftermath, it is also observed that the agenda of the socio-economic transformation is yet to be completed. Here it is the left that has to take the lead to stand against the injustices. There are the acts passed and implemented without getting the popular mandate. Then there is the privatisation bid, especially for the public sector, the amendment of labour laws, acts impacting the farmers adversely. These are some of the steps taken by the NDA at the centre and now to be implemented by the state level NDA government, which would erode whatever is left of the democratic system.

It is interesting to examine the vote shares for the BJP in states that had gone for elections after the polls for Lok Sabha in 2019. Bihar has its own reduced share of votes for the BJP that the states had to face. The 14 percent drop is not as high as that of Jharkhand and Haryana, but it is certainly more than the drop in states like Maharashtra which had ten percent. Despite the fall, the BJP has increased its seats and votes in 2020 state elections in Bihar compared to those in 2015 polls when it contested alone.

In fact, Tejashwi Yadav has also managed to come almost to the level he was in 2015 elections that he contested with Janata Dal (U). The Mahagathbandhan had countered the challenges serenely while facing the BJP along with its prime minister. The Mahagathbandhan had opted for development first time instead of caste and brought at the top the issues hurting the masses which made the alliance dear to the larger masses. It was soon realised by the BJP too that religious mobilisation was not enough to help it grow. Hence the addition of the term development to its manifesto, an indirect contribution of changing Bihar.

Yet by publicly ignoring caste Tejashwi has at least made a beginning towards the 21st century vocabulary of development partly based on emerging STR (Scientific Technological revolution). Bihar with its young population has been facing the unemployment crisis since long and particularly over the six months of lockdown, the issue itself has become a raging pandemic. A populace, suffering under Covid and lockdown torments, aspires for a succour that meets their basic needs, but they have to wait again. (IPA Service)