Exit Lalu, enter editorialists

IN Opinion | 28/11/2005

You don`t say!

Darius Nakhoonwala

For the uninitiated, I ought to mention that edits always have two parts: 200-300 words on part one, and the rest on part two. That`s the formula.

Last week`s big story was Lalu`s defeat and the formula worked. Part One was devotd to Lalu and Part Two to Nitish. As might be expected, the leader writers all said the same things - even the venerable Business Standard which at least had the good sense to keep it shorter than usual. All, that is, except the Hindu which described him as " India`s most enduring symbol of secularism and social justice." Hmmm…

Others were less charitable. The Telegraph said "Once in power, he personified a great betrayal. He used the popular will for the most brazen self-aggrandizements. Bihar became a byword for abject poverty, the vilest forms of politics, rampant corruption and total lawlessness."

The Indian Express might have been written by Alfred P Doolittle, the rhetoric loving dustman from My Fair Lady. "In a state that has become a metaphor for stagnation as the rest of the country surges ahead in different ways, in a state that seemed to lie chillingly outside of and alien to the vocabulary and concerns of the national conversation, where institutional collapse was normalised, the real danger was this: that the people of Bihar had lost faith in their own power to hold their rulers accountable, or bring in change."

Well, clearly, Express need not have worried. The Biharis showed that they are made of the right stuff, after all. As the Urdu saying goes, "Dayr se aye, durust aaye." (Late, but fine).

The Deccan Herald put it most succinctly. "The verdict in the election is a vote against the RJD`s poor governance of Bihar. In the 15 years it ruled Bihar, the RJD presided over a government that had become synonymous with crime and corruption. Bihar`s socio-economic indicators witnessed a worrying plunge in this period and the law and order situation deteriorated badly."

Business Line expressed some doubt. "Has Mr Lalu Prasad paid the ultimate electoral price for neglecting the economic and social development of Bihar, as is widely claimed? Or, is it a case of one alliance of parties working out the caste and communal equations better than the other?"

Then it came out with the oldest cliché of the confused. "The truth, perhaps, is a little more complex." Indeed it is. It usually is. So what?

If explaining why Lalu was defeated was one part of the edit, listing the problems ahead for Nitish Kumar was the other.   Thus:

 "Almost every section of the society needs a drastic overhaul, but he must begin with the civic and police administration. However, before he does anything else, Mr Kumar has to convince the people that it is possible to live safely and peacefully in Bihar…The election results make a caste backlash a distinct possibility. How he tackles this threat would be his first crucial test." The Telegraph.

"Given the size of the victory, it is safe to say that Mr Nitish Kumar enjoys public support cutting across caste and religious affiliations. He has to create a policy environment that fosters a rate of economic growth well above the national average…" Like who? Well, said Business Line, like West Bengal, which is ruled by the Left Front. Why? Because "Bihar has fared no better or worse than the nation as a whole on the parameter of economic growth. Its State Domestic Product grew at a marginally higher rate than the national average between 1995-96 and 2002-03, the latest year for which such data are available."

The Hindu ignored the tasks before Nitish Kumar. Instead it focused on his politics. "M. Kumar chose to hitch his wagon to the Bharatiya Janata Party… it marked the beginning of the legitimisation of Hindutva and the BJP brand of sectarian politics…but he took care to appear Muslim-friendly…as the new Chief Minister savours his triumph, he will surely be conscious of the looming presence of a BJP increasingly driven by the RSS." Perhaps there should be a Patna edition of the paper.

These editorials once again brought home to me the distance that separates opinion makers from those whose opinion they are seeking to make. The surprise, after 15 years of very poor governance, is not that Lalu lost but that so many non-voters thought he would last.

 Contact: Darius.Nakhoonwala@gmail.com