The Waning Reputation of Bihar’s ‘Sushasan Babu’
Nitish Kumar’s credibility and reputation have suffered a hit in this Bihar Elections; will this reflect in the final election results for his party?
Amatullah Batterywala, Writer
Artwork by Neel Ghaghada
The northern state of Bihar is voting to elect its Chief Minister this year. Voting was done in three stages and the results are slated to be declared on 10th November. While the election rallies are still the same as the pre-pandemic times, with the minor addition of a complete disregard for social distancing or any other preventive measures, the norms are supposedly being followed at polling booths. Amidst all this, the key players are lashing out at each other verbally to gain better traction for themselves. However, this article is not about them. It is about the current Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar.
Mr Kumar is contesting elections again to secure his position as the Chief Minister, technically for the 7th time. He has occupied the highest seat of the state since 2005, aside from a brief resignation between 2014 to 2015.
Who is Nitish Kumar?
Mr Kumar is contesting elections again to secure his position as the Chief Minister, technically for the 7th time. He has occupied the highest seat of the state since 2005, aside from a brief resignation between 2014 to 2015.
Nitish Kumar had worked with people like Jayprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia before joining the Janta Party. Under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he first served as a Union Minister of Railways from 1998-99. Although his stint as a Railway Minister was short, he is credited with bringing in widespread reforms for the Indian Railways including reforms related to the ‘Tatkal Scheme’ and ‘E-ticketing’
What is the reason for his win in Bihar?
Nitish Kumar first contested for the seat of Chief Minister in 2000. However, he resigned before even attempting to prove his majority. He finally assumed the position in 2005 after elections were held for the second time that year in October-November. He took oath as the Chief Minister by forming an alliance with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) under the common title of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The reason Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) (JDU) was able to garner a popular vote was because of the rampant corruption and lawlessness that had spread in the state after Lalu Prasad Yadav’s reign. He was viewed as a fit candidate to counter Lalu’s caste-based politics with his version of socialist politics.
Nitish Kumar’s first apparent task was to bring the prevailing crime and corruption under control which had flourished under Lalu’s rule. He did so by going after corrupt and powerful politicians and putting them behind bars. He also booked several of his own party members under serious charges.
Under Kumar’s governance, the state also adopted a policy of social development. It provided free bicycles to girls who stayed in schools. This proved to be quite successful seen through an increase in female enrollment rate and decrease of girl student dropouts. The alcohol ban was another initiative which was lauded by women back then. These two schemes made him quite popular with women and are said to have gained him a huge vote share from them.
Another successful venture was the negotiations with Bihar’s Maoist insurgent groups. Instead of taking a violent route to deal with them, he decided to open talks and actually understand their problems. He was, up to some extent, also successful in solving their issues. His infrastructural projects for the state have also proved to be very beneficial.
It was due to these reasons that Nitish Kumar got the title of Sushasan Babu which was essentially a reflection of his good governance. However, this reputation has been severely challenged during this election.
Nitish Kumar is clearly thrown off his gait with increasing anti-incumbency sentiments as well as the apparent opposition towards him and his party.