Direct link to scholarships offered by  Govt. of India

List of Private NGOs offering scholarships

Hajj:

The Journey of a Lifetime

Click here for step by step Haj Guide

Ummid Assistant

Admissions open at AMU off campus centers Murshidabad and Malappuram (Kerala).

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Views & Analysis

What makes Nitish Kumar special

Wednesday November 24, 2010 03:34:09 PM,  Amulya Ganguli, IANS

Related Article

JD-U and BJP sweep Bihar, RJD and Congress humiliated

Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was Wednesday poised to lead his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)    »

Bihari youth excited by poll results, call it new hope

Rabri Devi trails in Raghopur

Bihar Elections: Verdict will decide high-stakes battle

The Bihar outcome has confirmed the pre-poll conventional wisdom about Nitish Kumar's victory based on his successes on the development and law-and-order fronts. But what makes the chief minister stand out from his other equally successful political colleagues like Narendra Modi, Mayawati and Naveen Patnaik is the inclusive nature of his politics.

As a result, although the three others have also led their parties to comfortable victories in their states, it is only Nitish Kumar who is being regarded as a possible prime ministerial candidate in 2014. While Modi carries the millstone of the 2002 riots round his neck, Mayawati is seen as being too obsessed with her own caste, the Dalits, and Patnaik is seemingly still tainted by his earlier association with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In contrast, the new star of Bihar has emerged with a remarkably clean record on all these counts.

Although Nitish Kumar, too, has the BJP as an ally, he has made it abundantly clear that he has nothing to do with its pro-Hindu agenda. His difference in this respect from Patnaik is obvious. The latter retained his partnership with the BJP till the anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal left him with no alternative but to break his ties. Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, ensured that Bihar remained riot-free throughout the last five years.

What is more, he went out of his way to demonstrate his sensitiveness to minority apprehensions by telling the BJP that neither Modi nor Varun Gandhi could campaign in Bihar. The meekness with which the BJP accepted this diktat evidently contributed a great deal towards reassuring the Muslims. As a result, Nitish Kumar was able to break the longstanding Muslim-Yadav (MY) alliance which used to be the trump card of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

So, it wasn't only Lalu Prasad's abysmal failure on the development front during his 15 years in power which led to his downfall. Nitish Kumar also successfully eroded the basis of the RJD's electoral advantage by, first, winning over a section of the Muslims and, secondly, by retaining the support of the upper castes as well via the BJP. It was clever tactics where the BJP was made to act strictly in accordance with the script written by Nitish Kumar by excluding the minority-baiters and also keeping the upper castes on board.

It is this inclusive approach, which partly replicates the Congress's earlier Brahmin-Harijan-Muslim alliance, which is Nitish Kumar's distinguishing feature. It also marks his difference from Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had scored an even more spectacular victory by securing a single-party majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, but who has since faded away because of her obsessive penchant for erecting statues of herself and other Dalit icons.

In contrast, the entire focus of Nitish Kumar's attention was on building roads, jailing anti-social elements and encouraging the education of girls by providing them with school uniforms and cycles - the three areas (out of many) which Lalu Prasad had neglected. Not surprisingly, there has been a massive response to his appeal to the voters to support the "doer".

The outcome, therefore, marks the beginning of a new phase in Bihar politics, where the long-prevailing excessive emphasis on caste has been diluted - at least partly. True, Nitish Kumar also played the caste card by focussing on the extreme backward castes (EBCs) and the so-called Mahadalits.

Aware that he might not be able to make any inroads into the RJD's main base comprising Yadavs, who make up about 20 per cent of the population, Nitish Kumar turned to the EBCs, who constitute about 32 per cent, and include castes such as Kahars, Dhanuks, Kumhars, Lohars, Telis, Mallahs, Nais (to which former chief minister Karpoori Thakur belonged) and so on.

Then, to undercut the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ramvilas Paswan's hold on the Dalits, the Nitish Kumar government had set up the Mahadalit Commission to identify the most deprived among the Scheduled Castes and focus on their upliftment. As may be expected, the Paswan community was left out of the list of beneficiaries of government schemes.

Notwithstanding this partisan manipulation of castes, there is little doubt that it is still the development projects and the improvement in law and order which are primarily responsible for Nitish Kumar's success.

What may have also helped him is his modesty. It is not impossible that he consciously eschewed Lalu Prasad's flamboyance, realising that such bluff and bluster can have a negative impact in the absence of achievement. He also remained aloof from the controversial postures of the kind which the president of his party, Sharad Yadav, took on issues such as the women's reservation bill (threatening to commit suicide if it was passed) and on including castes in the census enumerations.

It is as the "doer", who wants to restore Bihar's reputation of the 1960s as one of the best-run states, that Nitish Kumar evidently wants to be remembered. The voters have given a thumbs-up to his ambition.

 

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

 

 

 

 

  Bookmark and Share                                          Home | Top of the Page

Comment on this article

Name:
E-mail Address:
Write here...

News Pick

Dalai Lama honoured with doctorate at Jamia

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of six millions Tibetans and a global icon of peace and inter-faith harmony, was Tuesday conferred an honorary doctorate by Delhi's   »

French tourist town to dedicate 2012 as the Year of India

Saint Tropez, a picturesque town in southeast France which attracts about five million tourists annually, is all set to dedicate 2012 as the year of India - all for a love story that binds the two in history. Claude Maniscalco, director   »

Paswan, Brinda in parliamentary-civil society team visiting Kashmir

A 10-member team of political leaders, rights activists and academics will visit the troubled Kashmir Valley to hold talks with "all sections of the society to discuss issues    »

347 people killed in Cambodian festival stampede

A senior government spokesman said Tuesday that 347 people had died and 410 were injured in a stampede on a crowded bridge late Monday in Phnom Penh. The tragedy happened when a crowd of thousands panicked   »

PM not obliged to sanction Raja prosecution: Attorney General

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not obliged under the law to give sanction for prosecution of former telecom minister A. Raja in the scandal involving spectrum allocation to mobile companies merely on the basis of a letter  »

India a nation of immense power and presence: UAE daily

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to a large number of Indians, recognises that "India is now a spearhead of the future markets and a nation of immense power and presence", a leading UAE daily said in an editorial  »

More Headlines

Andhra Chief Minister Rosaiah resigns citing age

No parliament business for ninth day, 2G deadlock on

JD-U and BJP sweep Bihar, RJD and Congress humiliated

Dalai Lama honoured with doctorate at Jamia

India's future lies in primary education for all: Lapierre

French tourist town to dedicate 2012 as the Year of India

United opposition stalls parliament, but split over Yeddyurappa

PM not obliged to sanction Raja prosecution: Attorney General

Eight days of adjournment cost nation Rs.63 crore

Islam one of the great religions of the world: Dalai Lama

India a nation of immense power and presence: UAE daily

 

 

 

Top Stories

JD-U and BJP sweep Bihar, RJD and Congress humiliated

Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was Wednesday poised to lead his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)    »

Bihari youth excited by poll results, call it new hope

Rabri Devi trails in Raghopur

Bihar Elections: Verdict will decide high-stakes battle

 

Picture of the Day

A View of INOX Multiplex, Goa, getting ready for hosting the 41st IFFI-2010, in Panjim, Goa on November 21, 2010.

(Photo: Mukesh)

 

  Most Read

Andhra Chief Minister Rosaiah resigns citing age

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah resigned Wednesday, saying he was unable to withstand the work-pressure because of his age  »

No parliament business for ninth day, 2G deadlock on

It was the ninth successive day of no business in parliament Wednesday with both houses being adjourned again over the opposition demand for  »

  Eight days of adjournment cost nation Rs.63 crore

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Religion

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Culture

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

 

Contact us

Business

Career

     

Education

       

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2010 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.