बिहार में हुवा क्या?

नीतिश जिते। वही हुवा। नीतिश को बिहार ने १० साल के लिए मैंडेट दिया है होलसेल में।

नीतीश का मुकाबला खुद अपने आप से है। वो बिहार को २०% ग्रोथ रेट दे सकते हैं या नहीं। मुकाबला वो है। 

२०१९ में मोदी बिहार फिर से स्वीप करेंगे। ४० सीट है बिहार से। २०-२० कर के नीतिश और लालु लड़ते हैं और नीतिश १००% स्कोर करते हैं, तो हुवा २० सीट। २० MP ले के कोइ प्राइम मिनिस्टर बनता है? ये नेपाल है?

वैसे भी बिहार अगर देश होता तो दुनिया का १२ हवा बड़ा देश होता। फ्रांस और जर्मनी का प्रेसिडेन्ट या चांसलर से तो नीतिश आगे हुवे। बिहार के सामने पाकिस्तान क्या है? कुछ नहीं। पाकिस्तान में न तो इकनोमिक ग्रोथ रेट है न कुछ। 

लालु का कभी कभी भाषण सुनो तो लगता है कह रहे हैं, मुसलमान भाइयों, मेरे को वोट दो, सुरक्षित रहो, बीजेपी को वोट दो तो मारे जाओगे। ये कैसी बात हुइ? 

नेपाल में एक पॉलिटिशियन हुवा करता था। नाम था मिर्जा दिल साद वेग। वो मंच पर चढ़ जाता था। कहता था लोगों को: "वोट दो नहीं तो बस्ती जला देंगे!" (बॉलीवुड इन्फ्लुएंस रहा होगा)

लोग सोंचते थे, सड़क पिचिंग नहीं हुई तो कोइ बात नहीं, स्कुलमें मास्टर न आए कोइ बात नहीं, गाओं में बिजली पानी नपहुँचे तो क्या हुवा अभी तक उसके बगैर काम चला लिए तो आगे भी चला लेंगे। लेकिन बस्ती जल गयी तो दिक्कत है। तो मिर्जा ने कभी इलेक्शन हारा ही नहीं। पार्टी बदला एक दो बार फिर भी नहीं हारा। 

एक बार मेरे को मिल गया। मैं अपने एक मन पसंद नेता के ऑफिस में बैठा हुवा था अकेले। कहाँ से न कहाँ से आ पहुँचे मिर्जा। मैंने हाई हेलो कह दिया। वैसे कहाँ मैं सीता नगरी से और वो बुद्ध नगरी से। फिर भी सोंचा हाई हेलो बोल दो पाँच सेकंड में और अपनी बस्ती बचा लो। बचा लिया। 

इसु होना चाहिए कि देश में कानुन है कि नहीं। और जो कानुन है वो अप्लाई हो रहा है कि नहीं? जैसे कि दादरी। हत्या का घटना है। एक तो मर्डर है। जो कि अपराध है। और उपर से hate crime भी है। दोनों गैर कानुनी होना चाहिए। नहीं है तो वैसा कानुन बनाओ। और उसको अप्लाई करना तो पुलिस का काम है। मुख मंत्री या प्रधान मंत्री का नहीं। हालाँकि हाई प्रोफाइल केस है। देश की राजनीति हिल गई। हिलना जरुरी भी है। मुसलमान बीफ नहीं खायेगा तो क्या खायेगा? खरगोश? आप अपना धर्म औरो पर थोपने का काम मत करो, प्रयास ही मत करो। ये मानव अधिकार का मामिला है। Freedom of Religion. 

अपने धर्म के प्रति गर्व करो। लेकिन और किसी के धर्म के बारे में गलत बोल्ने की क्या जरुरत है?

दूसरा मैंने न्यूज़ में पढ़ा चेहरे पर कालिख पोता गया। तो मैंने मन में कहा मोदी उस पर कमेंट करते हैं तो प्रमाणित होगा वो अपना काम नहीं कर रहे हैं। इतना बड़ा देश चलाना है, और आप चेहरे पर कालिख पोते जाने के घटना पर कमेंट करते हो, आप के पास उतना समय है तो अपने पद से राजीनामा दो और दिन भर बैठ के, हात पर हात रख के क्रिकेट कमेंट्री करो। 

मेरे कहने का मतलब भारत का प्रधान मंत्री अगर अपना काम कर रहा है तो उसके पास उतना समय होना ही नहीं चाहिए की वो प्रत्येक घटना पर कमेंट मारता रहे। चेहरे पर कालिख गलत बात है। लेकिन प्राइम मिनिस्टर को malnutrition के मुद्दे पर समय बिताना चाहिए। 

दल से बड़ा देश मोदीजी। तो दिजिए बिहार को दिल खोल के मदत। 

Bihar 5 To 2025

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Nitish: India's Opposition Leader

Modi and Nitish are the two most talented Indian politicians of their generation. It is only fitting that one is Prime Minister, and another is now Opposition Leader. Nitish ran on a Bihar@2025 mantra. And so he is not a factor in 2019. Biharis want to keep him in Bihar. That is why they gave him a drubbing last year in the national election.

Modi needs Nitish. Nitish can counter the sometimes extremist tendencies of the RSS the way Modi simply can't.

Nitish Kumar's role greater than Lalu in the victory: Chirag Paswan
Uddhav, Raj Thackeray congratulate Nitish Kumar on big Bihar elections victory
Bihar Voted Against Intolerance, Hatred, Says Congress, AAP, Trinamool
After travelling hundreds of kilometres in Bihar, a reporter’s diary on why Modi lost

voters were clear in judging the BJP’s campaign with its performance so far at the centre. ..... In the middle of the campaign, the prices of arhar dal—split red legume—shot through the roof, becoming a campaign issue. ..... Voters also complained that the Modi government had reduced funds in social welfare schemes, particularly the Indira Awas Yojana, a scheme to help build pucca houses for the rural poor. They were also unhappy over funds drying up in a rural employment guarantee programme and a food subsidy programme, as well as reduction of the minimum support price for farmers. ..... “Modi is good for the country. Perhaps he is good for the cities. But he is not good for the villages” ..... they struggled to name Modi’s biggest achievement as prime minister. “He has improved India’s stature before the world,” they said, and soon became defensive about the prime minister’s frequent foreign trips. ...... He also spoke of the Jan Dhan Yojana, an effort at banking inclusion, which has so far given bank accounts to 190 million citizens for the first time.

Bihar elections: The end of Modi’s juggernaut and the rise of strange bedfellows

Modi was the face—and the dominant voice—of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign in Bihar but, against foes-turned-friends Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, the assault has crumbled. The Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance—comprising the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress—is now leading in 177 seats. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is trailing at 61 seats. ..... Despite promises, reassurances and much bandying about of rankings, India’s economy hasn’t really kick-started under this government. ..... True, the economy is stable, but hard decisions on important reforms have either been delayed or shelved, and much depends on the government’s ability to spend more and spend better. ...... evidence of the further rise of India’s regional parties as the only real opposition to the dominant BJP. It is also proof of the political space they have come to occupy as a withering Congress party languidly attempts to set its house in order. ..... A group of influential regional leaders—including Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra—wasted little time in congratulating the Kumar-Yadav Grand Alliance and chastening the BJP. ....... With a deft handle on the state’s deeply entrenched caste divisions and a keen sense of the populist pulse, the shrewd Yadav repeatedly returned to power but delivered little on development. .....

Yadav’s RJD won 79 seats, five more than what Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has mustered.

How partners let BJP down in Bihar
NDA allies Paswan, Kuswaha and Manjhi lose in Bihar, lose clout at Centre
The bloodbath of the NDA allies on whom BJP was banking for its forward-backward winning combination, means that both Paswan and Kuswaha, will have reduced clout in the union government of which both are a part.
Bihar poll result a 'victory of democracy': BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha
Inside Nitish Kumar's War Room, Headed By Prashant Kishor

Sources say Mr Kishor's tested strategy is perception-building, or creating a buzz around a party. For Nitish Kumar, 'chai pe charcha' morphed into "parcha pe charcha" or discussion over pamphlets, which asked people for feedback on the state government's performance in the last 10 years. A "Har Ghar Dastak" (knock on every door) campaign took the outreach further. ...... From giant hoardings to instant rebuttals on social media, the team had to match the rival coalition at every step.

Bihar Election Result: Jitan Ram Manjhi Says Ready to Be Chief Minister If Asked
Ahead of Bihar verdict, Jitan Ram Manjhi says he is ready to be CM
Narendra Modi's party concedes defeat in Bihar election
A big setback for India's Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi suffers major electoral setback on eve of London visit

Mr Modi made repeated visits to the state – which

with a population of 110 million would be the world's 12th-largest nation, if independent

– as the BJP waged a polarising electoral battle on caste and religious lines...... The vote was widely regarded as a referendum on the prime minister’s popularity after 18 months in office as he campaigned hard for a victory that would have helped him pass a stalled national economic reform programme.

12 reasons why BJP could not fan the Narendra Modi wave in Bihar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's readiness to play communal politics has cost BJP Bihar. We found 11 other reasons too

Bihar has rejected the shrill Hindutva of RSS ...... Modi-Shah were branded as “ baharis” and Bihar selected a Bihari with a vengeance. Familiarity breeds security in voter’s mind....... The Muslim vote bank has not lost potency under the BJP raj and can play a contributory role in defeating or restricting a strident BJP, nationwide. ..... Lalu and Nitish are leaders when it comes to the OBC, EBC and poor while BJP in Bihar remains largely the party of forward classes dominated by Bhumihars. .....

Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on revisiting the reservation policy was nemesis for Modi-Shah.

...... BJP can’t have its cake and eat it too. Mandal and Kamandal can’t go together. Mandal divides Hindu castes. Kamandal survives on Hindu unity. ..... The rule at the Centre is lacklustre and Biharis have said it loud and clear. ..... Lalu Yadav’s earthy responses and one-liners gave fitting reply to Modi’s oratory skill. .....

Amit Shah’s style of functioning made many Bihari BJP leaders hostile. They sabotaged the party’s planning covertly.

....... Money, alone, can not win any election in democratic India.

Narendra Modi-promised achhe din have not come
A victorious Nitish emerges as the face of a national alternative

After blocking the BJP’s juggernaut in Bihar, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is being increasingly seen in political circles as the face of a possible national alternative of regional parties to take on the NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. ...... The Bihar polls were widely viewed as a direct fight between Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed around 30 mega rallies, the most by any PM in any state election. ......

It is well known in Congress circles that the party’s vice-president, Rahul Gandhi, is also an admirer of Kumar

...... Though several Third Front experiments have failed in the last 15 years, regional satraps could give it another shot at after the massive grand alliance win in Bihar. ..... “After the success of Bihar experiment, joint ventures and mergers will be the order of the day between old political rivals,” a political observer predicted.

PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley responsible for Bihar loss: Arun Shourie
Four parties that did worse than Nota this Bihar election

Dalits seem to have backed the grand alliance instead of the Musahar leader, who picked up just three seats. ..... Mulayam Singh Yadav walked out of the Janata Parivar in a huff during seat-sharing negotiations, saying the party was being given a raw deal. ...... Asaduddin Owaisi’s Hyderabad-based party .... Once a stronghold of the Left parties, Bihar seems to have rejected both the CPI(M) and the CPI, who together polled less than 2% of the votes and didn’t win a single seat between them.

Bihar election result: Assam BJP disappointed by Bihar outcome
Bihar poll results: Here's why Nitish Kumar should be aware of the fragility of his victory

Nitish Kumar would now emerge as a political fulcrum around which all anti-BJP and anti-Modi political forces would converge. ..... Nitish forged a formidable Muslim-Yadav-Kurmi coalition to which a significant section of the extremely backward classes (EBCs) got drawn. ......

the victory of Nitish Kumar in the assembly election would not change the grammar of Indian politics. Those who worked with Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar testify that both share many common traits. Both are meticulous, honest, hardworking and come from a humble background. In their respective settings, both are often accused of being “arrogant and authoritative”.

Their politics may diverge but it leaves the scope of the twain meeting in future...... VP Singh’s emergence as a counter to Rajiv Gandhi proved to be politically ephemeral as its ideological base was no distinct from the Congress, which bounced back to assert itself. As the jubilation in Patna fades away and Nitish Kumar occupies the official bungalow at Anne Marg, he would certainly be conscious of the fragility of this electoral victory more than anybody else.

Bihar, where Amit Shah’s one-size-fits all strategy failed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trusted lieutenant has had a relatively smooth run as party boss. Electoral victories in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir helped him consolidate his grip over the organisation. Few complaints were aired in public, although there have been dissenting voices from those uncomfortable with his meteoric rise and take-no-prisoners style. ..... Shah’s one-size-fits-all campaign strategy, developed and perfected elsewhere, lost its novelty in a complex state where political discourse ranged from caste to development to religion. ..... He tried micro-managing the Bihar campaign. The result was bruised egos and dissidence among the state’s leaders and misplaced zeal among thousands of party workers brought in from other states with little knowledge of local equations. ..... Many veterans are pacing on the sidelines for an opportunity to vent their frustration. He is not without his critics in the RSS either. ..... Five states are set to go to the polls in 2016 and he has been spearheading the party’s preparations there. Among them, the BJP is looking to make ideological penetration and increase its footprint in Assam and Bengal.

Bihar becomes 'top Twitter trend' in Pakistan

"Sorry, it's all the smoke from the crackers in Pakistan," tweeted former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah. It was an indirect jibe at BJP president Amit Shah. ..... Shah, in an election speech, had said that if BJP lost in Bihar, there would be fireworks in Pakistan. "If by any mistake BJP loses, victory and defeat may be in Bihar but fire crackers will go off in Pakistan," he had said. The BJP-led alliance eventually lost the polls to Nitish-Lalu partnership. ..... Interestingly, Lalu Prasad did create a fan-base of sorts in Pakistan when he had visited the country in 2003. At the time, several Pakistani newspapers had called him 'Bihar ka Badshah' and the politician himself had called for peace between the south-Asian neighbours. "I know people laugh at me and I enjoy that," Lalu, part of a two-day an Indian delegation taking part in a two-day conference of parliamentarians, experts and journalists organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), had said here. "But that's the power of democracy and it's the power of vote that has made me so powerful."

Shiv Sena hails Nitish Kumar, calls him ‘mahanayak’ after victory in Bihar polls
Asserting that it will bring in a "new" turn in the country's politics, Sena leader Sanjay Raut also said if elections were to be held in Maharashtra now, similar results will emerge.

Adding salt to BJP’s wounds, NDA ally Shiv Sena on Sunday hailed Nitish Kumar as “mahanayak” (super hero) after the grand alliance victory in Bihar elections and said defeat “denotes decline of a leader” in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bihar In The News

Reverse Swing: Narendra Modi’s governance is a lost opportunity
India needed a leader of the nation. Instead, it got the leader of a party.

The conservatism that we see today is not fiscal but religious. The order we see being imposed on India is not national but Hindu. After campaigning the Amit Shah Way, Modi is now governing the Amit Shah Way. There is no calm, there is no reflection, there is no attention paid to what ails the nation. Instead, we have a Nonstop Campaign. There is scarcely a moment or opportunity when Modi thinks of the nation first, and not of his party and its saffron fellow travellers. .....

The BJP had to win elections in Bihar, so the issue of the Madhesis in Nepal was stoked up, Indo-Nepalese relations be damned.

Bihar election results: What would the verdict mean?

A win for the MGB means the opposition will roar. Parliament will witness a renewed vigor. A new model - of alliance of opposition formations - will be sought to be replicated in other states. The setback will be used to attack BJP for both its willingness to turn a blind eye to religious chauvinism, as well as its failure to meet the promises of 2014. Narendra Modi will have to do a drastic review of operations in government. ....... Nitish Kumar will be seen as the only politician capable of taking on Narendra Modi. And that is because the BJP itself, by not announcing a CM candidate and making the PM the star and almost solo campaigner, pitted it as a contest between the two. Kumar’s restrained and understated style, his development record and OBC background, his ideological opposition to Modi, and now his political success will all be seen as assets. And if Congress remains as weak as it is, do not be surprised if he becomes the opposition face in 2019. ...... The win would also be because of

a complete Muslim consolidation, who have voted aggressively but silently to ensure there is no counter consolidation.

The right mix of vikas, jaati and Muslim vote would have won the alliance Bihar. ....... Prashant Kishore .. has been Nitish Kumar’s closest aide for the last year, and even lives in the CM’s residence. Kishore created the campaign around Brand Nitish and made it a presidential contest. He became the bridge between Lalu and Nitish after the alliance was struck. He worked out the campaign to its minutest detail, from who would speak at which rally on what day to the nature of the pamphlets and envisaged how to beat the BJP, with a fraction of its resources. Kishore would become a star, campaigning in India would change, and every leader would begin hiring strategists like the US.

Nitish Kumar led Mahagathbandhan leads by 4 per cent voteshare over BJP-NDA: Lokniti-CSDS survey

42 per cent of the electorates have voted for the grand-coalition led by Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, whereas, 38 per cent have casted their cote in favour of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. ..... The survey also predicts that non-aligned political forces could make a mark in the electoral process since thay have bagged 20 per cent of the voteshare. ..... Pappu Yadav, leading his won party Jan Adhikar Manch; Tariq Anwar leading the NCP and firebrand Muslim leader Asaduddin Owaisi

Over 80% Muslims in Bihar voted for Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance : Exit poll

84% Muslims supported JDU-RJD-Cong alliance, 08% voted for the BJP-led NDA and the remaining 08% of Muslims opted for other parties including the AIMIM. ..... Former chief minister Lalu Prasad, however, insisted that the Grand Alliance, which also includes the Congress, was poised to win 190 seats. ..... "The entire backward community of Bihar has voted for us," he told the media in Patna. "We salute them for this." .....

Neither Modi or BJP president Amit Shah -- who micro-managed the Bihar election -- nor Nitish Kumar spoke to the media.

...... The Bihar election is a big test for the BJP, whose winning streak since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was halted by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi in February this year.

Random thoughts on the eve of Bihar poll
Why does the Bihar election seem so difficult to decipher? Largely because Bihar is difficult to decipher through numbers and the Bihari voter is inscrutable.

Most of them will observe you, think and then keep silent when asked questions about whom they will vote for.

The state does not have a single private university

, but it has more than 25% of voters below the age of 30. ...... It’s mobile penetration is at par, almost, with India at 89%. Many Biharis charge their mobile with solar energy. Every fifth young voters is outside Bihar. Bihari students shell out Rs 5,000 crore every year to different educational institutions outside Bihar. People here are well-informed and small television channels are robust and outspoken in airing people’s voices. ..... The state is modern if you see the information quotient of the average person, but then

less than 25% of people have access to latrines

and in Bihar less than 5% (yes, five!) people have access to tap water but again, Bihar is different. More than 99% of villages have handpumps. ........ In Bihar only 2.4% villages have ATM machines and less than 10% villages have banks. ...... “Bihar is less communal and more caste-oriented.” ...... Bihar has the highest population growth rate in the last decade and the highest density of population at 1106 per square km. Again, the literacy rate grew fastest from 47% to 61.80% in the last the decade. India’s literacy rate is around 72.99%. ...... Bihar’s growth rate is better than India’s at 9 to 10% and it’s compounded growth rate between 2009-2014 was at 78.1%.

If you see certain figures one feels Nitish Kumar should win hands down.

It has better roads, better power and better railway connectivity. ....... Almost 60% of Bihar is under the direct threat of floods and 70% of the population gets affected by it. Thukral says, “Bihar has the highest number of the lowest land holding. Some 91% of land holding is less than 100 yards. ........

“Nitish Kumar gets credit that Bihar’s crime rate is much less than Kerala’s.”

..... Only 14% of Biharis have access to television, which is much less than Indian average but in bicycles Bihar is higher at 48% than the Indian average of 44%. ..... Unfortunately, Nitish’s Bihar has not been able to create jobs. The negative rate of job creation has made the election exciting because population is restless.

Except lichi cultivation, exports to Nepal and some growth in horticulture Bihar is starving of funds and opportunities.

....... BJP has in its computer 70 lakh mobile numbers of Bihari voters. ....... Bihar was overflowing with Modi and his messages. 27,300 three-wheelers, 2100 buses, 64000 graffiti 4000 tea stall, 18000 car stickers and some 300 plus rallies out of which Modi and Shah ended up addressing more than one sixth of it. ....... In just one election Bihar has witnessed more than 600 large and medium public rallies of Lalu, Nitish and Shah and PM Modi. .......

behind BJP’s so-called negative prospect is that in Bihar, what Dr. Shaibal Gupta calls the social justice constituency is alive and is a force to reckon with. Once Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on revision of reservation system came, the hold over the campaign shifted out of BJP’s hands.

After the Bhagwat moment Shah was left to struggle with his ” booth chalo” mission, only.

CNN-IBN dropped its Bihar exit poll since it predicted landslide victory for Nitish Kumar’s Mahagathbandhan

Leading television news channel CNN-IBN chose not to air its exclusive exit poll on Bihar assembly elections despite promoting it for multiple hours. The decision was taken at the last moment by the editorial team. The outcome of the survey was shocking and contentious. It predicted a landslide sweep in favour of Nitish Kumar by suggesting that the Mahagathbandhan will win the elections by more than a 2/3rd majority. ...... Mahagathbandhan, comprising of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and Congress are expected to emerge victorious on 169-183 seats, whereas BJP-led NDA is expected to win only 58-70 assembly segments. ........ It is worth recalling that

Axis, the agency which has been rejected by CNN-IBN was the only one to predict a landslide victory in favour of Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly elections.

It has suggested AAP would win 53(+7-), whereas other media outlets did not predicted more than 45. On the day of results, the Arvind Kejriwal led faction emerged victorious by bagging 67 out of the 70 seats.

JD(U)-RJD will win 190 of 243 seats, Nitish to name dy CM: Lalu

"A decision on the deputy CM will be taken after the election results are out on Sunday," Lalu said, adding that it would be Nitish's call whether or not to have a deputy CM. The inimitable Yadav boss then told reporters that the BJP was nowhere in the picture, and said, "You ask 'how'?" ...... With newsmen bursting into laughter - partly at his supreme confidence as also at the fact that he was giving the alliance 28 more than a two-thirds majority - Lalu explained: "More than 80% Dalits, backwards, minorities and the poor among upper castes voted for the RJD-JD(U)-Congress combine. Only rich voters supported NDA." ..... He then added, "PM Narendra Modi said in his last election rally that Nitish had only six days to rejoice. Lekin hum logon ne Modi ko Chhatthi ka doodh yaad kara diya (we've taught Modi a lesson he'll never forget)," he said. .....

Lalu admitted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's calling for a review of the reservation policy played a big role in pushing the poor towards the grand alliance.

...... "They (BJP leaders) were thinking they would divide the backward votes by playing the communal card. But Bhagwat let the cat out of the bag and everyone came to know about the BJP's game plan to snatch quota facility from backwards and Dalits," he said, adding that the polarization among backwards and Dalits this time was more intense than in 1990. ...... In reply to another question, Lalu doubted that Modi has a 56-inch chest.

"Have you seen my chest?

Bihar exit poll 2015: Social media predicts results before exit poll forecasts

Voting was still on and exit polls were yet to go on air when posts predicting Nitish Kumar's comeback started flooding the social media. ...... Midway through the last day of polling, a poll watcher, who has spent more than 30 years in journalism, wrote on Facebook "My understanding earlier was that the grand alliance should do well in the election. Having travelled to entire Bihar, I again feel the grand alliance shall win." ...... Almost 13 hours before, another newspaper veteran had posted a similar prediction in a more categorical manner. "I'm quite bemused by the national and trans-national interest in Bihar polls. But I find no interest or concern in the well-being of Bihar. Lay off poking noses from outside. Where's the discourse on Bihar's well-being? Having said that, I stick my neck out... Nitishji will come back. I wouldn't be surprised if it is a wave poll. And allow me to add: Delhi pundits will gloat on November 8 about campaign gimmickry." ....... One Preet K S Bedi wrote around noon: Max 90 seats for the BJP+. "Apart from wishful thinking, my reasons are it is inconceivable that a CM with 50% approval rating should not win; Lalu has a loyal vote bank; Nitish supporters voted for him despite his alliance with Lalu as he would become the CM if their alliance wins...," Bedi wrote.

Bihar polls: Lalu Yadav talks grand victory while Nitish Kumar awaits verdict

Located about 250 meters from each other, two bungalows on the Circular Road in Patna present a paradoxical picture a day before the counting of votes on Saturday...... While 7 Circular road is the residence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, ex-CM couple- Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi- are occupant of 10 Circular Road. ..... Although both -Lalu and Nitish- chatted to a group of reporters, they preferred different topics for discussion. If Lalu gave focus on the exit polls prediction during his informal chat with reporters, Nitish had little to say on the same. Both were sitting in open space...... Unlike Lalu who has gone to town to claim his massive win for the Grand Alliance, Nitish is more a listener ever since curtains came down on the polling in Bihar on November 5. ....... If he spoke, it was more about his experiences in his long political career than anything related to Bihar assembly polls. Nitish remembered how veteran socialist George Fernandes had noticed his habit to drink water after delivering speeches. "I was in habit of drinking water after delivering speeches. George Shaheb noticed my particular habit. He suggested me to prefer tea or slight warm water after my speeches. I stuck to George Saheb's suggestion. It now helps me avoid tonsil-related disorder........ "Which place you were camping on the day of polling? What was voting trend," Lalu asked a few reporters.

NDA loses lead after late surge in favour of Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad in Bihar: Post-poll survey
Pre-poll survey gave NDA lead of 4%; post-poll trends show Grand Alliance leading; Lalu did better than Nitish.

a distinct turnaround in favour of the Mahagathbandhan ...... As per our post-poll estimate, the Gathbandhan seem to have a lead of 4 per cent over the NDA. The Mahagathbandhan may end up with roughly 42 per cent of the votes while the NDA would have to lag behind with around 38 per cent votes. ..... The smaller parties and independents together might end up with 20 per cent votes. - ...... This election would certainly go down as one where the campaign proved to be critical. The difference in outcomes of the two surveys is also because (as the post-poll survey found) many voters finally made up their mind very late. While one fourth made up their mind either on the day of voting or a day or two before it, another 15 percent decided who to vote for only after seeing the candidates. ...... Rarely in any elections in the recent past, has such a large proportion of voters taken their voting decision at the very last minute. The survey found that the late swing of voters benefited the Mahagathbandhan. In many ways, this has been an election of several paradoxes. ....... As we had noted in the pre-poll analysis, the Mahagathbandhan began with a goodwill in favour of Nitish Kumar. At the same time, the central figure campaigning for NDA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, had a very robust positive image. So, it has been a contest between the state level leader and the national level leader. Another paradox is that while Nitish Kumar’s popularity and developmental record has certainly helped the Mahagathbandhan do well,

it is Lalu Yadav’s RJD which is likely to do better than the JD(U) as per our post-poll survey.

Nitish-Lalu bonhomie has spawned Jai-Veeru duos across Bihar

Before the election, there was an apprehension that JD(U) and RJD workers couldn't work together..... However, the synergy between grand alliance workers has been exceptional ......

Seeing the Nitish-Lalu bonhomie, the workers also saw themselves as Sholay's Jai and Veeru

..... Why JD(U) workers found it easier to deal with RJD as allies than the BJP ..... Take Rajkumar and Rafique for instance. While the former is an RJD worker, the latter belongs to the JD(U)....."We campaign together during the day as well. We distribute and circulate the publicity material given to us. Sometimes we also take part in door-to-door campaigning," Rafique says...... "We feel like Jai and Veeru from 'Sholay' ... but the real Jai and Veeru are Nitishji and Laluji," Rajkumar says........ Thoroughly enjoying their own joke, they begin deliberating who Gabbar Singh is and the names of the BJP's top two come up. The candidates for Samba and Kaalia are largely from the saffron party's state unit. .....

Sholay jokes apart, this bonhomie between RJD and JD(U) cadres and, to a lesser extent, Congress workers, could be seen across the state.

...... Mohammad Alamgir is an RJD worker in the Sursand constituency in Sitamarhi district. In the middle of the election campaign, he went for a pilgrimage to the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer. "I went to pray for the Mahagathbandhan's victory," he says. ...... There is very little ideological difference between the RJD and the JD(U), both of which are offshoots of the Janata Dal. And the Congress, being a marginal entity in Bihar, isn't viewed negatively by the workers of either of the parties. ..... "In fact we used to find it difficult to deal with the BJP, especially when its leaders like Giriraj Singh made communal statements," says JD(U) worker Shahid Alam. ...... On being asked why he was getting agitated, Paswan said, "Nitish Kumar is my leader in Bihar. People say I should support Ram Vilas Paswan. Why should I support him just because he belongs to my caste?"

Nitish Kumar thought of starting business after two poll defeats, says book

Following two successive defeats in the assembly elections of 1977 and 1980, current Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had pondered to start a business ...... "Nitish's family had been getting impatient with his failures. The choice of taking up a job on the basis of his engineering degree was still there." ...... "Nitishji asked his wife Manju, who was a teacher at a government high school at her paternal village of Seodah, to give him one last chance with politics during the 1985 elections," the book titled "Ruled or Misruled" says. ....... The 339-page book mentions many interesting tales about Kumar, Lalu Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi - all products of the 1974 movement launched by Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan.

Bihar exit polls prove wrong media pundits who handed win to Nitish-led alliance after only two phases

As exit polls reveal, both sides remain neck and neck. Of the seven exit polls that have come, four give clear advantage to the Mahagathbandhan and three to the NDA. Two exit polls, NewsX-CNX (130-140) and ABP-AC Nielsen (130) predict decisive victory for the Nitish-led alliance while two others predicted decisive victory for NDA. News24-Today Chankaya, which has often hit bullseye, predicted 155 seats for the NDA and NDTV-Hansa, which conducted a more thorough exit poll with a sample size of 76,000 and analysed it in greater detail, came out with the conclusion that the BJP-led NDA could win 120-130 seats.

‘Bihar has not changed much since my childhood’
Bihar hasn’t progressed much in terms of education and employment, he adds.

Samir Kumar is convinced that if his family is well-off today, it is because they chose to look for opportunities outside Bihar. While his father made the journey from Naraipur village in Bihar’s West Champaran district to Patna decades ago looking for opportunities, Kumar moved first from Patna to Rajasthan for “good school education” and later from Patna to Bangalore for a better life. ...... “Ultimately, Bihar is my state. But when I see the state, I realise it has not changed much since my childhood. When I compare it with places like Bangalore, I find that things are not happening’’ ...... Bihar hasn’t progressed much in terms of education and employment, he adds. “Most people in Bihar try to become an engineer, doctor or an IAS officer. When I was studying in Bihar, there was a thinking that if you don’t get a seat in the IITs, there is no point getting an engineering degree.” ..... Though he hasn’t learnt Kannada, people in Bangalore have been very accommodating, he adds. “The beauty of living in Bangalore is that the local population is very accepting of outsiders. It is not the same in other metros where you need to speak the local language in public spaces.”

Bihar results: When Modi discussed philosophy with Nitish and Lalu
Forget exit polls, Bihar's verdict will be a Game of Others
While they won't win many seats, they are capable of wrecking the ship of either alliance and the worst-hit will lose the game.

Others, consisting of independents and small parties, have been a force to reckon with in Bihar politics for the past four decades. They have played a key role in hung assemblies, especially in 1990, to elect Lalu as chief minister of the state for the first time and also in 2000 to elect Rabri as CM (though to a lesser extent as compared to 1990)....... In March 2005, others got 37 seats, which led to a hung Assembly and the imposition of President's rule for six months. In the re-elections held in October in the same year, the Nitish-led NDA (JDU+BJP) defeated Lalu's RJD to end 15 years of his infamous regime and "others" were reduced to 22 seats. Since then, their influence has reduced considerably and in 2010 when the NDA swept the state, their seat tally fell to the lowest ever: eight seats. ....... Earlier, they would win 39 to 55 seats, with vote share as high 32 per cent. ....... In untied Bihar (till 2000), the South Bihar parties demanding statehood for Jharkhand had a significant presence and were included as "others". Many independents have also been winning from Bihar (the highest being 30 in 1990). The majority of them were proverbial "bahubalis" ...... A poll of polls (7 polls- six released on Thursday, one by NDTV on Friday) shows a hung Assembly, with NDA at 118, MGB at 117 and Others at eight. If this happens, the others/independents/rebels will have the last laugh and Bihar may revisit the times of horse trading days it saw in the 1990s.

Between Bihar exit polls, a movie outing for Sushil Modi
On his part, Modi, sitting at his 4, Polo Road residence, seems sure the party will win at least 140 seats.

Having addressed 180 rallies during the polls, former deputy chief minister and BJP legislature party leader Sushil Kumar Modi looks like he has lost weight. Finally on Friday, he finds time to watch Pyar Ka Punchnama 2 with his family. ..... He does not find merit in reports claiming that a high turnout of women voters meant they voted for CM Nitish Kumar’s uniform and bicycle schemes. “Ek yojana ka labh do bar nahi milta (One scheme does not yield electoral dividends twice). After EVMs were introduced and booth capturing stopped, women started coming out to vote in bigger numbers. Second, most women whose husbands and family members live outside the state make it a point to vote. I doubt if they do not consult their husbands or elders before casting their votes.” “But there is no point taxing the mind now, when it is just a matter of hours,” he says.

Bihar: Man Of The Match

Who Will Win Bihar?

English: Shashi Tharoor in the Global Redesign Session. Participants captured during the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2009 held in New Delhi, 8-10 November 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The polls are all over the place, and both alliances are claiming a two thirds majority. So right now the picture is not clear at all. I am not sure, but at this juncture, I'd be surprised if Nitish loses. This was an election for the job of Chief Minister, and Nitish was the only one running.

Last year Nitish got a drubbing in Bihar for two reasons. One, Modi was a great candidate, he had both a lower middle class background and a low caste background, plus he projected development. And Modi was the only person in the country running for Prime Minister. Two, Biharis were in no mood to lose Nitish. The work Nitish had done since 2005 was his doing. Nobody else in his party could fill his shoes, and Jitan Ram Majhi proved that beyond doubt. I like the idea of a Mahadalit Chief Minister, but I like the idea of someone who can govern and give economic growth much more.

Nitish winning in Bihar is not bad news for Modi nationally. In fact, it is terrific news. Modi became Prime Minister last year, but nobody became Opposition Leader. Nitish will claim that seat if he wins. But Nitish will be limited to Bihar. He is not going to have an impact in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 which I expect the BJP to sweep like so much kura kachara. And Nitish is not going to be a factor in 2019. He campaigned with a Bihar@2025 promise. And the Bihari voters will know better than to let him off the hook.

Bill Gates, the richest, smartest philanthropist in the world also tried to do right by the poor people of Bihar. But Gates can not match Nitish. Political leadership is such a powerful weapon at the service of the poor. There is no substitute.

I am going to give Modi two more years before I start judging him. At least two more years. In my reckoning he has been excellent. India leads all countries in terms of how much FDI it has attracted so far this year. That is but one metric. I have watched him in action near daily since he won, and he has impressed me like few politicians I have followed over the years. He is extremely good. Right now I'd be surprised if 2019 becomes a worry for Modi. I expect him to take the Indian growth rate past 10% and to win an easy re-election in 2019.

The Indian media is not as sophisticated as the Bihari voter. The Bihari voter knows the difference between a national election and a state election. The India media? I am not so sure. If Nitish wins, the media that has spent over a year building up Modi like he were superman will spend about six months trying to question his every move. That is how they sell newspapers. They want little fights. They need to build up and then break down. Whereas the fundamentals of who Modi is and what he does will not have changed at all. Modi will keep showing up for work.

I have become a Modi fan. But I am also a Nitish fan. Nitish has been good for Bihar. Heck, he has turned a hopeless situation into something akin to a small miracle. Bihar's trajectory of the past decade has been unexpected, at least to me.

Nitish in Patna and Modi in Delhi is the best of both worlds, for Bihar as well as for India. Nitish doing the Opposition Leader role in Delhi would have caused a havoc. He might have been too effective. But Patna is a safe distance. And he will have a job to do.

A lot of people forget that Nitish was the first major Indian politician to have called Modi a future Prime Minister. I don't smell any personal dislike between the two. It would be good for Modi that someone of Nitish's caliber will now be Opposition Leader.

I just hope Nitish does not engage in knee jerk opposition. India needs thoughtful, constructive opposition, the kind Shashi Tharoor has offered at times.

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Should The BJP Lose Bihar

There are indications the BJP might lose Bihar. Should that end up being the case, that will be testimony to the enormous sophistication of the Bihari voter. They gave the country a Prime Minister last year. This year looks they might give the country the Opposition Leader in Nitish Kumar. Modi and Nitish are easily the two most talented politicians on the Indian stage today, both having stellar records on economic growth issues. 

Last year, Modi was the only one running for Prime Minister. Rahul was not running. And there was no such thing called the Third Front. No wonder Modi won. This year in Bihar Nitish has been the only one running for Chief Minister. How can you win if you are not even running? Who was running to be the BJP Chief Minister? The most likely candidate, Sushil Modi, sounded like he was never happier than when he was deputy to Nitish. By his own admission Nitish is the superior political talent. 

But a Bihar loss might not be such bad news for Modi. He will still likely win Uttar Pradesh next year. And he might still sweep Bihar in 2019, as long as delivers and takes the economic growth rate to 10% plus by then. 

India is the most vibrant democracy on the planet. India is not China. An Opposition Leader is a good thing. 

बिहार ने देश को PM दिया, अब लग रहा है Opposition Leader भी देगा
Bihar Is Make Or Break For Modi
लालु यादव: मौसम वैज्ञानिक

Bihar Is Make Or Break For Modi

The impending state elections in the state of Bihar are, in some ways, as important to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as was the national election last year where he scored a resounding victory and put an end to an almost three decade run of coalition governments in India. Modi sold tea on a railway platform as a young boy, was not born to high caste parents, and personifies Indian democracy at its best. Many imagine him to be a combination of Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew who might rein for two decades and turn India into a First World Country. But if he loses in Bihar, he might face an emboldened opposition that might chase him all the way to 2019. A victory might pave the way for another victory in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state, in 2017, which would take his party to a majority also in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, thus finally allowing him bold reform manouevres that have so far eluded him. The bold reforms might bring in double digit growth rates, an inch up from the already fastest growth rate in the world surpassing China, that might pretty much guarantee not only re-election but perhaps a bigger mandate, and the BJP’s expansion into more states, perhaps in the East and the South, making his party the natural party of power in the largest democracy. Modi would become the BJP’s Nehru.

One of the most curious developments on the election trail has been polls showing half the Muslims in Bihar wanting to vote for Modi’s party. This is tectonic. A party rightly or wrongly accused of Hindu supremacist tendencies making such remarkable inroads into the Muslim voter base has implications that go beyond the state, country and region. Top that with the bonhomie Modi shares with Bagladesh, a Muslim nation, with whom (and Nepal and Bhutan) India has signed papers to effect an economic union within a decade, India might finally showcase itself as a country where democracy is working for Muslisms on a vast scale. Modi’s laser focus on what he calls development seems to be winning hearts. He is disciplined about staying away from divisive rhetoric that an earlier generation of BJP leaders specialized in.

If Modi wins Bihar, the obvious casualty will be Nitish Kumar who has been an illustrious Chief Minister for a decade, the first seven of which he had the BJP as his junior partner, but who he parted ways with precisely because the BJP picked Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. Nitish fashioned himself a national alternative to Modi. Nitish Kumar’s leadership turned Bihar into India’s fastest growing state. That was a remarkable step up from the lawlessness that prevailed when he took the reins. If the BJP wins, very likely Sushil Modi, who was Nitish Kumar’s Deputy Chief Minister, will become the Chief Minister: a Modi in Delhi, another Modi in Patna, Bihar’s capital. Sushil Modi claims his party has been indispensable to Nitish Kumar’s success, since it held key ministries like education, health and roads while the turnaround was being engineered.

Bihar, India’s poorest state, has had a glorious history. It was in Bihar that the Buddha attained enlightenment. At one point Bihar boasted the world’s top university: Nalanda. Some of India’s most glorious emperors called Bihar home including Ashoka whose chakra, or wheel, you see on India’s flag. Mahatma Gandhi, once back from South Africa, picked Bihar to launch his big push in India. Independent India’s first president was from Bihar. But somewhere along the way, Bihar fell through the cracks mightily. And India now can not lose its Third World status unless Bihar and Uttar Pradesh lose theirs.

The president of Narendra Modi’s party, Amit Shah, claims if they win Bihar now, that will trounce the opposition for the next 15-20 years nationally. His battle plans are amazingly detailed, his ground operations thick and thorough like a comb, and he has been at it for months before the official clarion call was made by the Election Commission. Mastering the dizzying caste arithmetic, constituency by constituency, electoral booth by electoral booth, has not been left to chance, although the offical focus is on “development.”

If Nitish Kumar loses, it will be because he has been in power for 10 years, and his ally, the colorful, witty (he spoke in tweets before there was a Twitter) Laloo Yadav, for the 15 years before that. Anti-incumbency will have hit a 25 year stretch of rule by two “backward caste” leaders, friends from student days, who might get replaced by another of the same, and also a friend of theirs from student days. Modi is no high caste last name, not for Narendra, not for Sushil.

If the country’s population growth was 2-3% and its economic growth also was 2-3%, many feel India stagnated for decades even after it broke free from Britain’s clutches. Modi seeks a population growth rate below 1% and an economic growth rate that is a sustained 10% plus by making a sharp break from India’s socialist ways: most of the top entrepreneurs in the country feel love for him. Bihar is where he seeks and hopefully gets a second national mandate after his emergence on the national scene last year, and his subsequent global emergence, built up over foreign visit after foreign visit, making him the most popular politician on the planet today. Brazil had its Lula, India has Modi.

Nitish Kumar And Bihar

Nitish speaks at Bihar Development Dialogue (Video)



Nitish favoured for CM, but BJP could win: What the pre-poll surveys on Bihar say so far

According to the survey, the BJP-led alliance will win 125 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections thus crossing the 122 mark which is required to win a simple majority in the 243-member state Assembly...... The JD(U)-RJD-Congress grand alliance, according to the survey, will win 106 seats. ..... The ITG-Cicero survey also said that the BJP-led alliance, including LJP, RLSP and HAM, will win 42 percent of the total votes while JD(U) will win 40 percent...... even though the most-favoured choice for the post of Bihar Chief Minister was Nitish Kumar, the people of the state wanted a BJP-led alliance government...... an opinion poll taken by India TV channel said that the mahagathbandhan or the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress is projected to win between 116 and 132 seats in the Bihar Assembly ...... The BJP-led combine has been projected to win within a range of 94 to 110 seats, according to the poll conducted by C-Voter ..... On the question of who is the best chief minister, a whopping 53 percent respondents favoured incumbent Nitish Kumar, while only 18 percent preferred BJP leader Sushil Modi and only 5 percent preferred Lalu Prasad and Shatrughan Sinha........ the Lalu-Nitish-Congress combine is projected to win 43 percent votes this time, while the BJP-led combine is projected to win 40 percent votes ..... during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA comprising BJP, Paswan LJP and Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP won in 174 Assembly segments. The Lalu-Nitish combine could win only in 51 Assembly segments in the face of Modi wave.

Bihar Story Part II: Anti-Modi revolt which didn't work and other blunders of Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar did indeed overplay his hand. He stretched his sudden, written-in-a-hurry, I-hate-Modi script to lengths at precisely the time that Modi mania was viralling across the country. And it backfired. ...... When Nitish took his opposition to Modi to an obsessive level he calculated that a section of the BJP, inimical to Modi’s growing influence, would support him in his new political venture. While so miscalculating, he also overlooked the vulnerability of his Bihar model of development that was essentially funded by the state....... Till 2012, he was given to believe by leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari that there was hardly any scope for Modi to burst on the national stage. ...... In a dinner meeting hosted by Arun Jaitley, the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari famously remarked, “Nitish ji agar aap chahenge tab bhi vo pradhan mantra nahi ban sakte (Nitishji even if you want Modi will never become the Prime Minister)”.......

In Nitish Kumar’s assessment, the BJP had a limited capacity to grow and would be restricted way below the majority mark in the best case scenario.

..... This drubbing disoriented Nitish and his politics. One blunder followed another. ...... Having been deserted by upper castes and Mahadalits, Kumar found himself in a precarious position and compounded his blunders by choosing an alliance with Lalu’s RJD in desperation. This flew in the face of his own politics of the last two decades and the massive affirmative mandate he received in 2010 on the Lalu-Jungle-Raj plank. ...... Suddenly, the man who turned around Bihar has squandered the narrative of development and optimism he weaved. .... Nitish should have been in a commanding position, not on shaky ground.

The Bihar Story Part I: Only Nitish Kumar could've breached his fortress. And he did.

The best Bihar narrative can be found in Hindi novels of master story-teller Phaneeshwar Nath Renu. His two famous novels “Parti Parikatha and Mailaa Aanchal” contain stories of

numerous social mutinies that churn society underneath with deceptive surface-level calm.

........ The Kosi region that comprises Purnea, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura and Bhagalpur, is literally a forsaken land frequently visited by natural and man-made calamities. Renu’s stories and plots used to be set either in the pre-independence era (1940s) or post-independence (60s & 70s) wherein the intermediary castes were still learning to assert themselves under the Congress umbrella....... Bihar changed radically over the next two and half decades. The 1990’s that saw the ascendancy of Lalu Prasad Yadav under the banner of VP Singh’s Janata Dal. He was seen as an effective antidote to the dominance of the oppressive upper castes. ....... Lalu altered the political grammar of the state, invented new idioms and vocabulary that kept the caste-ridden and fractious Bihari society always on the precipice. The 1990-2000 decade saw a spate of caste killings, each tragedy yielding rich political dividends to Lalu Prasad. The combination of Dalits, OBCs and Muslims made for the biggest social chunk and it always tilted in his favour. ....... the radicalisation of society hardened. Upper castes and landlords floated their own private armies such as Ranveer Sena, Kunwar Sena ostensibly to protect their honour and unleashed terror against the hapless. ......... In 2005 Nitish Kumar’s emergence as the face of the BJP-JD (U) combine marked a definite deviation from a political order which promoted social acrimony at the expense of people’s welfare and development. ... Nitish Kumar’s experience as an able and no-nonsense administrator earned him laurels even from former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Since Kumar belonged to Kurmi caste (OBCs), he won over a considerable section of non-Yadav OBCs also to his fold....... Unlike Lalu he resurrected the state and institutions to restore people’s confidence in the government. Just after his thumping victory in 2010, Kumar aptly described his agenda as “governance, governance and governance”. ...... The absenteeism of teachers and doctors from schools and government-run hospitals was curbed. In words of Shaibal Gupta, a noted scholar on Bihar, Nitish Kumar managed to restore people’s faith in the state. In the process, he forged

a potent “coalition of extremes” that combined social elites and underdogs.

“This coalition of extreme was a powerful counterbalance to Lalu’s Muslim-Yadav combine,” said Gupta. ......

Even officials who worked closely with Kumar admit that the first five-year rule of Nitish Kumar saw a maniac frenzy to push development agenda. “There was so much to do and so little time,” Nitish Kumar used to say. A group of dedicated IAS officials was chosen and asked to work and monitor development projects round the clock. The state witnessed construction of a record number of bridges and state highways in those five years that saw for the first time growth rate surpassing even Gujarat. In terms of social indices, Bihar had shown considerable improvement with literacy rate and primary health.

...... A new narrative of optimism and hope was weaved around Bihar which could now tout its own model of development. This

prompted even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to say that the Bihar turnaround was a greater feat than the success story of Gujarat.

...... Sitting in this impregnable fort, Nitish Kumar seemed well and truly set for a long innings. Only he could breach his fortress. And he did.

Gandhi’s ordinary greatness: Among the Mahatma's weaknesses, ‘racist’ is a kind epithet

Mahatma Gandhi never made a fetish of consistency. Far from it, he described his inconsistencies as the result of his gradual evolution as a man. ...... Gandhi went to South Africa as a failed barrister from India, and was determined to make it big. His sartorial preferences and tastes were carefully cultivated to match the British. Since he had studied in England, he easily made friends with the Whites. He made no bones about this in his autobiography. ...... Apparently, the problem with Gandhi is that he was never shy of his human vulnerabilities. Contrarily, he encouraged people to talk about it and do a threadbare analysis to put him down from the saintly pedestal. His disciples left him when he undertook his ‘celibacy experiments’ in the company of younger women. He did not try to convince them, but allowed them to choose their way. Just a few days before he was shot dead, Gandhi declared that all his experiments would come to a nought should he utter any word other than ‘Ram’ when confronted with violent death....... Gandhi was conscious of the fact that he might even err in his death. That is the precise reason that his guiding principle was that no man is good till he is dead. All thorough his life, Gandhi erred and corrected himself like an ordinary human being. He never claimed to be born with any attributes superior to an ordinary mortal. He was lampooned not just by the likes of Winston Churchill who called him as ‘half-naked Fakir’ but

was deserted even by his colleagues on the issue of Partition dismissing him as an idiosyncratic old man.

........ Gandhi died liked an ordinary mortal, just the way he lived. If one is determined to recount weaknesses of Gandhi’s life, ‘racist’ and ‘pro-British’ would count among the kinder epithets. Gandhi subjected himself to criticism of a far more serious nature. Therein lies his greatness.

Pre-poll survey predicts majority for BJP and its allies
'Lalu is already part of Bihar govt, so where’s jungle raj?' Nitish at the IBN Dialogue

Appealing to an aspirational section of society, he said that he had successfully laid the foundation of basic development on which the next round of initiatives could be taken. "If given a chance, we will work towards taking development to the next level," he said while dismissing the fear that his association with the RJD would derail the dvelopment agenda...... His nearly 50-minute-long address was heard in rapt attention by the audience comprising intellectuals, politicians, media and people from different walks of life. ...... Nitish said that in the past 10 years, he had resurrected the state, restored people's faith in law and order and focussed on the human development agenda. ..... He said he was determined to ensure electricity supply to all households in the state by end of 2016. Referring to rising people's expectations and aspirations of the youth, he said that his next round of development would address all major issues like skill development, WiFi facilities in educational centres, setting up of new medical colleges and nursing institutes. It was apparent that Nitish wanted to use the IBN Dialogue Bihar 2.0 , the first major political debate after the announcement of the Bihar election, as a platform....... Modi said that Nitish had decided to part company with the BJP soon after the 2010 Assembly election. He said that Nitish tried to follow the example of Naveen Patnaik to build his own base. “Nitish invented the excuse of Narendra Modi and decided to follow a course which was inimical to Bihar," Sushil Modi said.

Sushil Modi

लालू यादव से ज्यादा बिहार का नुकसान नीतीश कुमार ने किया: IBN7 के कार्यक्रम बिहार डायलॉग के दौरान

Posted by Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday, September 13, 2015

Nitish Kumar, Narendra Modi

Nitish Kumar talks about political issues in Bihar elections 2015

नीतीश कुमार जी का नया इंटरव्यू जिसमें वह बिहार चुनाव से सम्बंधित सभी मुद्दो पर प्रकाश डाल रहे हैं।

Posted by Bihar JDU on Friday, September 4, 2015

Nitish' Bihar

लालु यादव: मौसम वैज्ञानिक

वैसे तो राम विलास पासवान ५० घाट का पानी पिए हैं। १९८९ से जो मिलीजुली सरकार का सिलसिला शुरू हुवा तो बहुत समय तक कभी भी राम विलास पासवान विपक्ष में नहीं रहे। वैसे तो लालु भी एंटी-काँग्रेस से राजनीति शुरू किए, बाद में काँग्रेस का साथ हो लिए। सिर्फ अभी तक बीजेपी को अछुत माना है। राम विलास एंटी-काँग्रेस, काँग्रेस, बीजेपी सब का साथ कर चुके हैं। मोदी आज कह रहे हैं सबका साथ सबका विकास। राम विलास तो १९८९ से कहते आए हैं, सबका साथ सबका विकास।

राम विलास ने बीजेपी का साथ छोड़ा और लालु के साथ हो लिए तो कोई ऐतराज नहीं। अब राम विलास मोदी के साथ हैं तो कहते हैं राम विलास बहुत बड़ा मौसम वैज्ञानिक हो लिए।

वैसे मैं लालु का लोहा मानता हुँ। वीपी सिंह के नंबर एक शिष्य हो के उभरे। इधर लालु उधर मुलायम ने मुस्लिम-यादव कोएलिशन बनाया। मंडल वेव था। अभी डेवलपमेंट वेव चल रहा है।

आजादी के बाद के नंबर एक रेलवे मंत्री बन के लालु ने दिखा दिया। दुनिया भर में लोग आस्चर्यचकित हो गए। बगैर कटनी छटनी किए, बगैर downsizing किए रेलवे को profitable बना दिया। पश्चिमा लोगों का माथा चकरा गया। भइ, ये क्या कर दिया लालु ने? ये तो संभव ही नहीं था। ऐसा कोई फोर्मुला हमारे किताबों में है नहीं। कौन सा किताब पढ़ते हैं लालु? हार्वर्ड से ले के सब जगह स्टडी होने लगा कि पता करो लालु ने कैसे किया? लालु ने जादु का छड़ी घुमा दिया।

ताज्जुब की बात ये है कि लालु बिहार को विकास दे नहीं पाए। फॉरवर्ड कास्ट के लोग जिनके रिश्तेदार CBI में थे उनके माध्यम से लालु को तंग करवाया। ठीक से काम करने नहीं दिया। Caste Arithmetic को ही तख्तापलट करने में लालु को ७ साल लग गए। जभी मोदी राजनीति में आए भी नहीं थे तभी लालु मुख्यमंत्री बन चुके थे।

और एक नीतिश हैं ---- मैंने कभी सोंचा नहीं था बिहार में कोइ विकास कर भी सकता है। नीतिश ने छलांग लगा दी। इन्होने ७ साल जो दिए वो अजुबे थे। उस पर भी बड़े बड़े विश्वविद्यालय में स्टडी हुवे हैं।

तो ये दोनों जादुगर एक जगह आए हैं। पलड़ा भारी होना चाहिए। मेरा वश चले तो मैं बिहार में सर्वदलीय सरकार बना डालुं। उप मुख्यमंत्री के रूप में सुशील मोदी ने भी बहुत अच्छा काम किया। तेज दिमाग के हैं, मेहनती हैं। लेकिन वो बात शायद unrealistic है, और वो भी बिहार में जहाँ लालु कहते हैं "उड़ती चिड़िया को हल्दी लगाती है बिहार की वोटर!"

लालु बिहार में विकास नहीं कर पाए लेकिन रेलवे में तो बहुत विकास किया। नीतिश विकास में किसी से कम नहीं। बहुत कहते हैं नीतिश ने गलती की, बीजेपी से नाता तोड़ लिया। लेकिन जितने तीक्ष्ण पॉलिटिशियन रहे हैं नीतिश क्या वो गलती कर सकते हैं? मैं मानने को तैयार नहीं। ऐसे लोग गलती में भी सही करते हैं।

कुछ तथ्यों पर जरा ध्यान दिजिए:

• नीतिश भारत के प्रथम प्रमुख नेता हैं जिन्होंने मोदी को भविष्य का प्रधान मंत्री बताया। और ये बात सिर्फ मुझे मालुम है कोइ विशेष सुत्र से ऐसी बात नहीं। It is a matter of public record. Youtube पर आप वीडियो देख सकते हैं। मोदी बाएं बैठे हुवे थे। 
• नीतिश और लालु दोनों मंडल स्कुल के लोग हैं। Caste Pyramid दोनों को बहुत ही अखडती है। तो मोदी तो बिलकुल मंडल हैं। नेहरू पंडितों के नेहरू, और मोदी एक किस्म से देखिये तो मंडल नेहरू, अगर २० साल शासन किया तो नहीं हुवा? 
• नीतिश बीजेपी से अलग नहीं हुवे होते तो NDA वालों अकेले बहुमत लाने का बीजेपी लक्ष्य ही नहीं बनाती। लेकिन नीतिश अलग हुवे तो मोदी को stretch करना पड़ा, ज्यादा ताकत लगाना पड़ा। मोदी पहले backward caste प्र म हैं। १०-१२ महिना सत्ता में रहे लोगों को क्या गिनना? 
• और coalition era का खत्म होना भारत के विकास के लिए बहुत जरुरी था। एक बेबीलोन में है Hanging Gardens Of Babylon. भारत की राजनीती में १९८९ से वही चलता आ रहा था: Hanging Gardens Of Babylon. तो वो अब ख़त्म हुवा। भले बीजेपी ने किसी पार्टनर को फेंका नहीं है लेकिन सब को मालुम है बीजेपी अकेले बहुमत में हैं। तो सब अनुशासन में रहते हैं। 

तो नीतिश ने गलती कहाँ किया? २००५ से २०१२ तक नीतिश ने बिहार को जो दिया, वो तो एक मिशाल है। अब बिहार को आगे १५-२०% आर्थिक वृद्धि दर की जरुरत है। चाहे जिधर से आ जाए।

मैं Land Bill और Labor Bill दोनों पर मोदी के साथ हुँ। वो भारत को First World Country बनाना चाहते हैं अपने ही कार्यकाल में। और वहां तक पहुँचने के लिए वो Land Bill और Labor Bill दोनों की जरुरत है, ऐसा मेरा मानना है। लेकिन नीतिश और लालु दोनों विरोध में हैं। ऐसा क्या? दोनों बुलेट ट्रैन का विरोध करते हैं। ऐसा क्यों?

मेरे को लगता है कोई Global Warming और Climate Change का चक्कर तो नहीं? लालु सोंचते हैं अगर भारत भी विकास कर गया तो भारत में consumption high हो जाएगी और Global Warming और स्पीड पकड़ लेगी, इसीलिए देशको Hindu Rate Of Growth पर रखना ही ठीक है।

लालु यादव: मौसम वैज्ञानिक।

मजाक अलग। Seriously, अगर बिहार में नीतिश लालु जित जाते हैं तो Land Bill और Labor Bill पर एक बार घनिभुत तर्क वितर्क की जरुरत पड़ेगी। Easy hiring and firing का जो मॉडल है वो अमेरिकी मॉडल है। और वैसे मेरे को बहुत पसंद है। लेकिन जर्मनी में वो नहीं है। वहाँ लोग एक ही कंपनी के साथ अपनी जिंदगी गुजार लेते हैं। जापान में तो उससे भी ज्यादा। तो फरक फरक मॉडल हैं। भारत को कुछ ओरिजिनालिटी दिखाना होगा और अपना ही रास्ता ढूँढना होगा। लालु ने रेलवे में जो किया, बगैर कटनी छटनी के बम्पर प्रॉफिट का रास्ता, शायद उसमें कोई मैसेज है अभी के वादविवाद के लिए। Synergy का प्रयास किया जाए, fusion का प्रयास किया जाए। Let the democratic debate go full swing. Let there be open conversations. And then seek synergies and fusions to create uniquely Indian solutions.

Laloo's 1,000 Tumtums

Lalu Prasad today said his party will counter the 160 'Parivartan raths' with 1000 'tumtums'. Fitted with 'bhoppu' (loudspeakers), these low budget 'tumtums' would move in the interior areas of Bihar carrying the party's message for the poor and expose the BJP, he said...... Prasad made a scathing attack at the Modi government and said "when the poor asks for roti, the government asks them to do yoga." ...... Prasad said this at a function in the Gandhi Maidan which was the venue of an NDA function yesterday where BJP president Amit Shah flagged off 160 high-tech 'Parivartan raths'. ...... He asserted if the caste report was not made public he would observe one day protest fast on July 26 and RJD would organise Bihar bandh the next day.

Bihar Is Rolling Along

Lalu Prasad, sons hold lessons in politics ahead of Bihar polls

“Go and tell people about the findings of this census. Every third family in the country is landless. 13% of households live in single rooms. Socho, agar chaar beta hai aur unki shaadi ho gayi, to kya hoga (Think, if there are four sons and they get married, what will happen)?” he says. ...... Early on Saturday, Lalu was back in his lawn. A visitor from Chhapra timidly announces his offering of fish and sattoo. Gesturing to leave the bag in a corner, Lalu snaps: “Machhi laata hai, ghoos deta hai ticket ke liye (A fish bribe for a poll ticket)!” Then he asks an aide to show him the fish and hollers: “Feko, feko. Sada hua hai (Throw it out, it’s stale)!” ..... A commotion at the gate stops him. “Aaj koi Muslim ko nahin rokega. Eid hai, sabko andar aane do,” he shouts.

Nitish cautious as BJP reworks Bihar’s caste labyrinth

in the end, much will depend on how the JD(U) and the RJD collaborate on the ground. The JD(U) wants the 2010 Assembly poll results to determine the sharing of seats. In that election, the JD(U) won 115 seats with 22.6 per cent, the RJD just 22 seats, though it polled 18.84 per cent. That happened, of course, because the JD(U) was in alliance with the BJP. Now the RJD wants the 2014 general election results to be factored in as it won four Lok Sabha seats against the JD(U)’s two. ....... It is for this reason that the JD(U) is keen on postponing the announcement of its candidates till a very late stage in the campaign, top sources told The Hindu, hoping that by then, Mr. Kumar’s charisma will have done the trick.

Nitish does a Modi, sets up ‘war room’ ahead of polls



Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Purchases 'Luxury' Bus for Campaigning in Assembly Polls

‘luxury’ and ‘ultramodern’ which could be turned into office at any moment. ...... “Inside the bus, there are four collapsible seats, which can provide more space as per the requirements. There was a bedroom behind the seats complete with a bedside phone. I guess it was a satellite phone. There was TV and refrigerator too,” the source said. ...... “The interior is divided into four areas, driver’s cabin, lounge area, bedroom area and a washroom at the back. The lounge section has 40 inch TV, 32 inch TV, DVD player, speakers (two sets), intercom, 60 litre fridge and electric kettle.”

Why Jitan Ram Manjhi is crucial for BJP in Bihar

But Manjhi's inclusion has now caused serious heartburn for the other two BJP allies, causing new problems for its plan Patliputra. ...... Feeling their space squeezed after Manjhi's inclusion in the NDA, RLSP boss Upendra Kushwaha has also unilaterally proposed its own seat distribution formula by asking BJP to contest 102 seats-which is also the number of seats that the saffron party had contested in 2010 in alliance with Nitish Kumar-and leave 74 seats to the LJP and the remaining 67 seats to his party. Clearly, Manjhi did not find any seat in Kushwaha's scheme of things. ....... Manjhi, who had been in a non-confrontational mode since meeting Amit Shah on June 12, is now showing his belligerent bones. "Everyone has a right to respect. If I do not get a respectable offer from NDA, I will have my options open," he said. The former Bihar Chief Minister is believed to have asked for 40 Assembly seats. ...... The BJP cannot afford to let Manjhi go and fight independently. The BJP party knows that the goodwill it enjoyed last year has vanished into thin air, and the electoral opponent it faced last year has become stronger than earlier, it has its task cut out. The party think tank is also apprehensive that while BJP may find it difficult to further raise their 2014 vote share, the partners, Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP that won six of the seven seats it contested and Upendra Kushwaha RLSP that won three out of three in the Lok Sabha polls, may not be able to repeat their performance in the Assembly polls. So, adding Manjhi to NDA is crucial, as of the 16 per cent Dalits, Manjhi is said to have considerable sway over 5-6 per cent Mushars.

Amit Shah vs Prashant Kishor: Who will be the wizard of Bihar election?

The forthcoming assembly election in Bihar is arguably the most important state election during Narendra Modi’s tenure as prime minister. Bihar’s result will have an impact on the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017. If the BJP is unable to fly its flag in Patna and Lucknow, it will have frittered away the chance to reap long-term benefits from the Modi wave of 2014. ...... While Twitter and Facebook are the faces of social media campaigning, most of its social media focus was Whatsapp. Technology entrepreneur Rajesh Jain’s collection of phone numbers of people sympathetic to the Modi campaign (through those missed calls) was used to bombard those numbers with daily visual messages via Whatsapp. Modi’s speeches across the country had talking points from the CAG, based on feedback from where he was going to address the rally. The Statue of Unity project, which collected iron from people across the country to build a Sardar Patel statue, was the CAG’s idea. Modi sat through many of these strategy meetings of the CAG for hours, and was particularly impressed by the hologram idea. ...... The CAG’s core group of members kept expanding throughout the election. By the end of the election they numbered were 672, apart from the thousands of their volunteers spread across the states. ....... Former associates of Kishor, who worked with the CAG, say Kishor felt he didn’t getting his due in Modi government. He declined a post in the Prime Minister’s office as he felt he deserved better. Kishor and his Citizens for Accountable Governance had hoped to be given a high-profile role in policymaking and implementation in the new government. ......... (Despite this falling out with the party, Kishor is said to maintain regular contact with the prime minister.) ........... Kishor was so close to the Gujarat chief minister that he lived with Modi in his official residence in Gandhinagar . His body, the CAG, made decisions small and big that BJP leaders and workers had to follow. ...... The division of labour between the BJP and CAG was clear. The BJP, led by Amit Shah, worked on electoral strategies down to the booth level, doing much of the traditional work that it takes to win an election. Behind the scenes however, Kishor and his team were acting as force multipliers, packaging and branding Modi in a presidential style election. ......... BJP President Amit Shah owes his elevation as BJP president to the credit accorded to him for the election win, and Shah’s camp seemed to feel threatened by Kishor. ............ The battle between Shah and Kishor playing out in Bihar is about more than just personal rivalry. This is a clash of two different models of electioneering: The old-fashioned party loyalist and the professional campaign manager. ...... As he did for Modi, Prashant Kishor has set up a body for the Nitish campaign, called I-PAC, the India Political Action Committee. It has hundreds of members, divided across several teams, working like a corporate machine. I-PAC members dress in black, a move darker from the blue kurtas CAG members wore......... The singularly important factor in winning an election in India is building the “hawa” – the popular perception that this party is likely to win. Prashant Kishor’s method uses data, technology, branding and marketing techniques for hawa-building. Already for the Nitish campaign, there’s “parcha pe charcha” (discussion over pamphlets), 400 trucks with LED monitors and other gizmos are organizing 40,000 village meetings across Bihar. Nitish has launched a “Badh Chala Bihar – 2025” campaign, the subtle message of which is that he has a long-term vision for Bihar’s development....... Kishor is a former United Nations official who wants to work with politicians on policy issues and is ideologically agnostic. He began working with Modi on policy, but soon got drafted into the task of winning the 2012 Gujarat assembly election, and then 2014. Now he has been recruited to work that same magic for Nitish Kumar in Bihar, but the outcome, even if Nitish wins, may not be all that different for Kishor. ........ “Kishor and his team are keeping tabs on all of Kumar’s ministers to make sure they are actually hitting the campaign trail. Kishor’s army of youth dressed in black keeps checking on the locations of senior JD(U) leaders through mobile phone.” This is bound to make party leaders unhappy in the long run.

Lalu Prasad Yadav , Nitish Kumar to be hit hardest if caste data released: Ram Vilas Paswan

the caste-based data in the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), the first in eight decades since 1912.

Ahead of Bihar elections, Nitish Kumar understands growing importance of women voters



Bihar Assembly elections: Amit Shah pits Nitish Kumar against Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi versus Nitish Kumar, incumbent Prime Minister versus incumbent chief minister..... If the NDA is not voted to power I can assure you there will be no electricity, no roads, no employment, no schools, no industry. Only Narendra Modi can get you all of that."