Hajipur: Muzaffarpur, the business hub of north Bihar is about 75 kms from the state capital Patna. Till a decade back, the stretch used to take well over three hours in a four wheeler. But things improved after November 2005 and now the metalled National Highway 77 sees vehicles hitting the 100 kmph mark easily and covering the distance in just about an hour. Despite the time taken to exit a crowded Patna, the poor condition of Gandhi Setu and the massive bottleneck as one enters Muzaffarpur, it is a smooth ride with signs of new-found prosperity along the way.
One of the most visible signs of the Nitish Kumar administration has been the much improved condition of roads which was one of the reasons behind the excellent show in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the equally impressive victory of the Janata Dal United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the 2010 Assembly elections.
But just three and a half years after that decisive mandate, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's caravan finds itself lurching on a potholed political path. With his party isolated after breaking its highly successful 17-year-old alliance with the BJP, the man credited with turning around Bihar stares at a rout that is likely to see him return to the political wilderness.
At Madhopur Mahodat, which lies about 7 km off the NH 77 towards the right off Imadpur on the Patna-Muzaffarpur road, there is widespread admiration for the state of roads which the residents wholeheartedly credit to the state government. They also vouch for the improved law and order with an old man Sitaram Das pointing towards a group of school girls returning on bicycle as one of the signs.
But quizzed further they say that their votes are not for the JDU and the logic is once again in the complex caste dynamics of the state. "Nitish babu kaam to kiya hai per votwa to jaat per hi padega (Nitish has done a lot of work but votes will still be cast on the basis of caste)," says Das even as others agree with him. The area comes under the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency where voting will take place on May 7 and the contest will be between JDU's sitting MP Ram Sundar Das, Lok Janshakti Party's Ram Vilas Paswan and Congress candidate Sanjeev Prasad Tony.
What Das says is not without logic. Even though the area is dominated by the Dalits, yet most of them are landless labourers and work in the fields of upper caste Bhumihars. They say that the voting pattern is determined by the landed class and they merely follow the diktats issued by their masters. "Malik log jahan bolega uhe buttonwa daba denge (We will press the EVM button as directed by our masters)," a middle aged Saryu Paswan says. He also claims that while children of the area want to study, the teachers are not qualified enough and often skip the school resulting in many of the students dropping out. The blame once again lies with the state government, he adds.
Lack of employment opportunities is another big reason for the grouse against the JDU government. Ramashray Mishra, a bank clerk working in Hajipur, blames the massive corruption in the bureaucracy and holds Nitish Kumar directly responsible for it.
"CM saheb imandaari ka dhoong karte hain aur unke officer paisa bana rahe hain. Kya hua hai Bihar mein unke raj mein? Ek bhi karkhana nahi laga. Hamara baccha sab bahar nahi jayega to kahan se zindagi banega. Roz BJP ko gaali dete hai to uske saath itna saal kyun the. Ab inka jana tai hai (The CM pretends to be honest but his officers are making money. There has been no development under Nitish Kumar in Bihar. Not a single factory has been setup in the state. How will our children have a successful career if they don't migrate to other states? He abuses BJP daily, so why was he with the party for several years. He is surely going to lose this election)," says Mishra.
When pointed out that the area is well connected and law and order has improved as claimed by other villagers, Mishra turns abusive. "Yeh sab dikhawa hai. Contractor aur officer malamal ho gaya hai road bana ker. Chhota jaat per bahut bharosa hai unko. Koi vote nahi dega (All such claims are an eyewash. The contractor and officers have made a lot of money in road construction. He (Nitish Kumar) has a lot of faith in the backward castes but no one will vote for him," he adds.
His elder brother Akhilesh Mishra, too, has no kind words for the state government but is a little more respectful. "Road aur kanoon vyavastha thik karne se hi vote nahi milta hai sir. Unko BJP se gatbandhan nahi todna chahiye tha. (Better roads and improved law and order don't get you votes. He should not have broken the alliance with the BJP)," he says.
Lalu Prasad, after becoming the Bihar chief minister in the early 1990s, had famously said the even though the state's roads look like Om Puri's cheeks, he would soon ensure that they are as smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks. But the condition of roads deteriorated further under his regime.
Now even as Nitish Kumar has managed to achieve what Lalu promised, it is clear that the JDU leader failed to fill the potholes that lie on the tough political road.
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