11-25-2005, 07:50 PM
<b>Lalu Prasadâs vote bank was never enough for a majority; he covered the deficit with rigging</b>
By YASHWANT SINHA
Bihar has redeemed itself. By voting the way they did in the recently held elections, the people of Bihar have exploded many myths, myths which have been propagated about Bihar and have been held dear by many in the media in Delhi and elsewhere. The Janata Dal, which won the assembly elections in Bihar in 1990, was not then led by Lalu Prasad, nor did it secure an absolute majority of its own. Lalu Prasad was elected leader of the Janata Dal Legislature Party in 1990 in a triangular contest and became the chief minister of Bihar with the support of the BJP.
As it happens in all backward, especially feudal societies, those in power attract the maximum attention. So did Lalu Prasad after he became chief minister. He took maximum advantage of this attention, deliberately cultivated a typical rustic style and became the toast of the Indian media. He was always projected as being larger than life. Few will recall that the only election in which he secured a majority on his own in the Bihar assembly was in 1995. He was reduced to a minority in the 2000 election and Nitish Kumar was sworn in as chief minister of Bihar because the NDA had secured a larger number of seats in the assembly than the RJD. As is well known, Nitish Kumar could not muster a majority and had to resign. The field was then clear for Lalu Prasad, who installed Rabri Devi once again as the chief minister of Bihar.
The more recent story of the hung assembly after the March 2005 elections, the âunconstitutionalâ dissolution of that assembly when Nitish Kumar was close to securing majority support and the subsequent election and its result need no repetition here. The fact is that the people of Bihar have spoken loud and clear, given an unambiguous verdict and rejected resoundingly the combination of RJD + Congress + CPM + NCP. People have also seen through the games played by Ram Vilas Paswan and shown him his place.
During the 15 years of Lalu raj, Bihar not only became a by-word for non-governance, lack of development, collapse of law and order and unbridled corruption but also for rigid caste politics. Analysts, until the other day, were unwilling to see Bihar in any other mould except of caste. Even in the morning of November 22, when counting of votes was about to begin in Bihar, learned commentators in Delhi were predicting a hung assembly once again and were not prepared to write-off Lalu Prasad. They considered Lalu Prasad invincible in Bihar because of the caste equation backing him. It was predicted that the excesses of the Election Commission had led to a consolidation of the M-Y vote bank in his favour and with a little additional support from the other castes, he would swing the election in his favour again. His statement that a âdjinnâ would come out of the voting machines in his favour was taken seriously and gleefully by his supporters in the media here. They hoped that he would perform a miracle once again. Alas, that was not to be this time.
What went wrong with Lalu Prasad this time? Where did he miscalculate? Lalu Prasad was consumed by his own myth that Bihar would always vote along caste lines. He forgot the various occasions in the past when the people of Bihar rose as one man and voted out a regime they did not like or voted in a party they liked. I am not saying that caste did not play a role in this election. It perhaps did. But other considerations also weighed with the people and blunted the impact of caste. People of Bihar did not approve of the manner in which the last assembly was dissolved to keep Nitish Kumar and NDA out of power. After the pronouncement by the Supreme Court that the dissolution was âunconstitutional,â the voters were convinced that Lalu Prasad and the Congress party had not acted honestly and fairly and decided to record their disapproval of this action through this vote. The issues of non-governance and lack of development, of corruption and kidnapping were major issues once again.
But the factor which clinched the verdict in favour of the NDA was the fair and fearless manner in which the Election Commission conducted the elections in Bihar this time. The bureaucracy of Bihar read the mind of the people correctly and once rid of the fear of the return of Lalu raj, cooperated fully with the Election Commission, except for some dishonourable exceptions. All escape routes for Lalu Prasad were sealed securely.
Rigging of elections had become a way of life in Lalu Prasadâs Bihar. While commentators in Delhi wrote about the famous M-Y support for him, about his popularity and invincibility, he with the support of the administration quietly rigged elections in enough number of seats to secure a majority. Why did he not succeed this time? Simply because the administration refused to obey his command and the Election Commission kept an eagle eye. When I predicted in a TV interview in the evening of November 21, that RJD would secure less than 60 seats in the election, others on the panel looked at me incredulously and promptly disagreed with me.
<b>There is no denying the fact that Lalu Prasad has a vote bank in Bihar. He always had that vote bank. But that vote bank alone was not enough to carry him to a majority in the Bihar assembly. The deficit was sought to be made up by rigging elections. This recipe did not work this time. The results are there for all to see. Elections in Bihar this time have been won by the people of Bihar, ably assisted by the Election Commission. </b>
By YASHWANT SINHA
Bihar has redeemed itself. By voting the way they did in the recently held elections, the people of Bihar have exploded many myths, myths which have been propagated about Bihar and have been held dear by many in the media in Delhi and elsewhere. The Janata Dal, which won the assembly elections in Bihar in 1990, was not then led by Lalu Prasad, nor did it secure an absolute majority of its own. Lalu Prasad was elected leader of the Janata Dal Legislature Party in 1990 in a triangular contest and became the chief minister of Bihar with the support of the BJP.
As it happens in all backward, especially feudal societies, those in power attract the maximum attention. So did Lalu Prasad after he became chief minister. He took maximum advantage of this attention, deliberately cultivated a typical rustic style and became the toast of the Indian media. He was always projected as being larger than life. Few will recall that the only election in which he secured a majority on his own in the Bihar assembly was in 1995. He was reduced to a minority in the 2000 election and Nitish Kumar was sworn in as chief minister of Bihar because the NDA had secured a larger number of seats in the assembly than the RJD. As is well known, Nitish Kumar could not muster a majority and had to resign. The field was then clear for Lalu Prasad, who installed Rabri Devi once again as the chief minister of Bihar.
The more recent story of the hung assembly after the March 2005 elections, the âunconstitutionalâ dissolution of that assembly when Nitish Kumar was close to securing majority support and the subsequent election and its result need no repetition here. The fact is that the people of Bihar have spoken loud and clear, given an unambiguous verdict and rejected resoundingly the combination of RJD + Congress + CPM + NCP. People have also seen through the games played by Ram Vilas Paswan and shown him his place.
During the 15 years of Lalu raj, Bihar not only became a by-word for non-governance, lack of development, collapse of law and order and unbridled corruption but also for rigid caste politics. Analysts, until the other day, were unwilling to see Bihar in any other mould except of caste. Even in the morning of November 22, when counting of votes was about to begin in Bihar, learned commentators in Delhi were predicting a hung assembly once again and were not prepared to write-off Lalu Prasad. They considered Lalu Prasad invincible in Bihar because of the caste equation backing him. It was predicted that the excesses of the Election Commission had led to a consolidation of the M-Y vote bank in his favour and with a little additional support from the other castes, he would swing the election in his favour again. His statement that a âdjinnâ would come out of the voting machines in his favour was taken seriously and gleefully by his supporters in the media here. They hoped that he would perform a miracle once again. Alas, that was not to be this time.
What went wrong with Lalu Prasad this time? Where did he miscalculate? Lalu Prasad was consumed by his own myth that Bihar would always vote along caste lines. He forgot the various occasions in the past when the people of Bihar rose as one man and voted out a regime they did not like or voted in a party they liked. I am not saying that caste did not play a role in this election. It perhaps did. But other considerations also weighed with the people and blunted the impact of caste. People of Bihar did not approve of the manner in which the last assembly was dissolved to keep Nitish Kumar and NDA out of power. After the pronouncement by the Supreme Court that the dissolution was âunconstitutional,â the voters were convinced that Lalu Prasad and the Congress party had not acted honestly and fairly and decided to record their disapproval of this action through this vote. The issues of non-governance and lack of development, of corruption and kidnapping were major issues once again.
But the factor which clinched the verdict in favour of the NDA was the fair and fearless manner in which the Election Commission conducted the elections in Bihar this time. The bureaucracy of Bihar read the mind of the people correctly and once rid of the fear of the return of Lalu raj, cooperated fully with the Election Commission, except for some dishonourable exceptions. All escape routes for Lalu Prasad were sealed securely.
Rigging of elections had become a way of life in Lalu Prasadâs Bihar. While commentators in Delhi wrote about the famous M-Y support for him, about his popularity and invincibility, he with the support of the administration quietly rigged elections in enough number of seats to secure a majority. Why did he not succeed this time? Simply because the administration refused to obey his command and the Election Commission kept an eagle eye. When I predicted in a TV interview in the evening of November 21, that RJD would secure less than 60 seats in the election, others on the panel looked at me incredulously and promptly disagreed with me.
<b>There is no denying the fact that Lalu Prasad has a vote bank in Bihar. He always had that vote bank. But that vote bank alone was not enough to carry him to a majority in the Bihar assembly. The deficit was sought to be made up by rigging elections. This recipe did not work this time. The results are there for all to see. Elections in Bihar this time have been won by the people of Bihar, ably assisted by the Election Commission. </b>