Listening to Ranjan for a non-stop three hours was like watching a hilarious movie, a tragicomedy at times. He shared stories and anecdotes about Laloo, a man he had known for the last forty years, providing us glimpses into Laloo’s life and character, his brand of politics and his philosophy. It’s entirely possible that Ranjan exaggerated some of the stories and concealed parts of others as theirs is a case of forsaken friendship; nonetheless, the story that Rajan related to us and the story of the on-going transformation of Bihar politics and Bihari society offer valuable lessons for Nepal.
I think there are at least four important lessons for us.
First, society doesn’t take much time to change. Bihar was for so long a story of poverty, of mismanagement, of lawlessness and corruption. Bihar was, until recently, an example of how everything can go wrong in a state, in a country. But all that has changed in less than five years. Today Bihar is different, a success story— its GDP is growing by 11 percent, much higher than India’s average; investors are thronging Patna (till a few years ago there were only two daily flights to Patna from other Indian cities; today there are 10, including direct flights from Mumbai and Bangalore, hubs of India’s business); jobs are growing and crime is declining. For the cynical lot who think some societies never change or at least will not change during their lifetime, Bihar is a good answer.
Bihar’s transformation is far from over—it has actually just begun and enormous challenges lie ahead. But a society’s level of development is always a relative concept and the notion hardly matters to people. What really matters is the sense of optimism, a sense that their state, their country is doing well; a sense that politics is headed in the right direction and their leaders are doing the right things. It’s the sense of hope that matters to people and make no mistake, it has arrived in Bihar.
Second, leadership matters. Between Bihar’s ignominious recent past and glorious present lies the work of one determined, well-meaning and hardworking leader-- Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Nitish Kumar came to power in November 2005, inheriting a practically lawless and bankrupt state. He promised that he would make Bihar crime-free within three months. The pledge was too ambitious and things didn´t change so fast on the ground, but his track record of the past five years is impeccable: By setting up fast track courts and "speedy trials" he has already convicted over 52,000 people, much higher than in any other state in India. And the convicts include lawmakers, politicians, civil servants, police officials and high-profile criminals. Bihar’s roads, once under "seize" by gun-toting criminals, are now regularly patrolled by police.
Laloo once promised Biharis “roads as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks”. That dream is, ironically, being fulfilled by his nemesis. Nitish rebuilt or constructed 6,800 kilometers of road between 2006-2010 and 1,600 bridges. Now, the travel time by road across Bihar, according to some estimates, has been cut by half.
Nitish hasn’t just delivered development and improved law and order but also maintained and nurtured an organic connection with the masses that elected him. Every Monday he meets commoners and listens to them all through the day in what he refers to as Janata Durbar. People have rewarded him handsomely-- his coalition won 87 percent of the seats in the state assembly in 2010 and there is no official opposition party in Bihar as none of the parties got 10 percent of seats to qualify as the main opposition in the state legislature, as required by the constitution.
Both Nitish and Laloo are products of the Indian socialist movements led by the likes of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. So it’s not just ideology or the schooling that matters. It’s the integrity and character of individual leaders that count as much, if not more. Excessively ideological Nepali leaders, especially of the left, had better take heed.
The third lesson coming from Bihar is the transient nature of class and caste based politics. Laloo came from an extremely poor background and played both the caste and class cards. He was extremely good at it. With poor people and Yadavs rallying behind him, Laloo ruled Bihar for 15 years and came to be seen as irreplaceable in Patna. The poor and the Yadavs voted for Laloo but that vote, as it turned out, was as much an expression of resentment against the so-called upper class and elites as it was an aspiration for development. Ethnic leaders often think that ethnic movements are only about identity and underestimate the underlying aspirations for development and delivery, as Laloo did, and they eventually pay the price. During the last Lok Sabha election Laloo failed to elect even a single Yadav candidate from his party though Nitish Kumar´s party, Janata Dal(United), elected seven Yadav lawmakers. Clearly, the Yadavs had voted against Laloo with a vengeance.
With development and jobs spreading and the law and order situation improving, the influence of Indian Maoists in Bihar has markedly declined. "Naxals used to come and extort from development projects. With strict policing extortion is no longer possible, and as people are too busy with work to listen to them, the influence of Naxals has declined fast," says Ranjan.
Finally, we asked Ranjan, what in his opinion was the real game changer as Nitish had done so many good things in Bihar? "Law and order", he replied without thinking for a minute.
Automobile sales in Bihar grew by 45 percent in 2009 while India was still reeling under the global financial crisis and sales dipped by 20-25 percent in several other states. Why so? It is said that Biharis were earlier afraid to buy and flaunt their new cars lest they attract the attention of extortionists and kidnappers, but with better law and order and most kidnappers behind bars, they no longer felt the need to conceal their affluence or suppress their desires.
If consumers hesitate to buy cars during lawless times, just think how much it discourages investors? Law and order is a prerequisite for investment and development activities as it provides predictability and assurance to businesses and people. It cuts the cost and time of doing business. Our politicians, who hardly seem to understand the high correlation between investment, development and law and order, should seriously heed this and start putting a high premium on law and order. Hope the lessons from Bihar are not lost on them.
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