By Arun Srivastava
A change of power is yet to take place, a mahagathbandhan government is still waiting in the wings to occupy the centre stage, but to the chagrin of the people of the state, jungle raj has already descended in Nitish Kumar’s Bihar. This negates the myth Narendra Modi has been consistently trying to create through his numerous speeches, that Jungle raj will revisit Bihar with installation of a secular INDIA bloc government.
A jungle raj is usually perceived as the rule “of and by” the criminals and gangsters. These people operate their illegal activities brazenly showing utter contempt to the elected governments and peoples’ representatives. The Mafiosi rule the state. For them enforcing anarchy is the best mechanism to perpetrate their regime. Killing, extorting and kidnapping are the best tools to terrorise the people to keep shut and obey their dictates.
For the first time Nitish Kumar had coined this phrase on the eve of 2005 assembly election, but was hijacked by the BJP to paint the image of Lalu Yadav black and project him as the leader who is incompetent to rule. Undeniably Lalu’s rule witnessed widespread lawlessness, criminalisation of politics and a state where growth and development were alien concept. But an analysis of the nature of crime and criminals would make it explicit that it was created by the mercenaries and politicians enjoying the patronage of the upper caste landlords and feudal elements. The situation was exploited by the rich and creamy backward caste persons to consolidate their political and economic gains.
Of course Lalu Yadav was involved in the fodder scam, as he did not initiate actions against the bureaucrats and politicians, which he should have done as the head of the government, it was made to look like a colossal scam by the top BJP leaders. They had perceived that with Lalu in command of Bihar politics; the saffron philosophy would have no taker. By arresting LK Advani in Samastipur, during his Ram Rath Yatra Lalu had sent a loud and clear message. The yatra, which aimed to rally support for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed Ayodhya site, was stopped in Bihar. It was unacceptable to BJP leaders. They had planned to teach Lalu a lesson. To attain this mission, they hijacked Nitish’s phrase of Jungle Raj.
After 20 years, Nitish has been facing the same accusations. In those days the vested interests and saffron ecosystem used it as a political tool to slander and vilify Lalu, in the prevailing situation the criminals and goons of the feudal and landlords are using to silence the Dalits, poor and minorities. The situation is also witnessing intensifying of the fight between the gangsters and emergence of new criminal gangs enjoying the patronage of the politicians.
It is indeed shocking and melancholic for Nitish that he is being accused of pushing Bihar in Jungle Raj. For last one year hundreds of brazen killings have taken place in the state. Earlier the targets were the Dalits and poor, now in recent months organised crime and gang war have featured prominently. The nature and number of killings has even prompted his NDA colleague Chirag Paswan to remark publicly on the deterioration of law and order under Nitish, who has been chief minister of the state since 2005. Chirag, Union minister for food processing, said in a post: “Law and order in Bihar has become a serious concern today. Murders are happening every day, and the morale of criminals is sky-high. The functioning of the police and administration is beyond comprehension.”
The devilry of the criminals and their contempt for law and order system could be gauged from the simple incident that took inside Paras Hospital only a couple of days in broad day-light. Five gun-toting criminals walked into the hospital and under CCTV cameras, shot dead a dreaded criminals who was admitted there for some treatment. The Independent Member of Lok Sabha Pappu Yadav impromptu later addressing the people on the gate of the hospital even revealed the name of the rival gangster who had planned the killing. But shockingly the state police is yet to take a firm and decisive action.
A week before that a leading businessman of Patna was shot dead in broad day light in front of his residence. No doubt inefficiency and reluctance of the police for curbing crimes have been a major issue of public debate, but what is most glaring is the criminals are not scared of police and they can strike anywhere according to their will.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Bihar is probably the only state in India, where there is no government. Nitish has lost his control on state administration. Bihar already has the dubious distinction of being the lawless state. Now with Nitish unable to force his whip, Bihar has on the path of complete degeneration. Patna alone has witnessed 13 murders, including that of prominent businessman Gopal Khemka, over the past fortnight.
RJD leader Tejashwi has accused Nitish of drowning the state in debt, saying the government did not disclose in the budget how much debt the state has and how much the people of Bihar have. He even accused him of failing to realise self-reliant Bihar despite 20 years of uninterrupted rule in the state.
It may sound outrageous but the fact is Nitish Kumar has never been interested for the growth and development of state. He has a clear insight, that if intends to continue in power and rule Bihar till he is alive, he must have a coterie of moneyed people who can act as influencers and provide him financial interest. Nitish built a number of over-bridges on the roads and bridges on rivers. Most of the bridges are non functional and underutilized, while at least 8 bridges have collapsed either within a couple of months of construction or in the process of constructions. He has created a large number of millionaires during his rule. But ironically he has paid proper attention to constructions of schools especially for girls or strengthen and establish good hospitals. Health has been the most neglected department. Even the most prestigious hospital Patna Medical College and Hospital is in mess and has turned the hot bed of anti-socials.
People usually nurse the view criminals have easy access to Nitish. Most shocking statement has come from the ADGP Kundan Kishan of state. It reflects his intelligence and administrative acumen. Only on July 16, he blamed unemployed farmers for the spurt in crime. He said “Recently, a lot of murders have happened in the whole of Bihar. Most murders happen in the months of April, May and June. This continues until the rains come, as most farmers do not have work (till then). After the rains, people in the farming community get busy and the incidents reduce.”
It is any one to comprehend how the state is being run. ADGP has described the farmers as criminals and goons, instead of pointing to the criminals. Obviously it manifests he does not intend to antagonise the criminals and politicians who patronise them. (IPA Service)
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