The Political Pulse of Bihar
- Tejashwi Yadav’s Growing Appeal
- Nitish Kumar’s Declining Credibility
- The Economics of Populism
Promises vs. Practical Realities
Even if Tejaswi vows to prioritise law and order, Justice Katju warns that RJD’s past and the behaviour of its cadres may pose serious obstacles to restoring stability.Former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju analyses Bihar’s political landscape, explaining why Tejaswi Yadav appears set to become the next Chief Minister. He examines caste equations, Nitish Kumar’s waning influence, and questions the feasibility of Tejaswi’s promises for jobs, women’s welfare, and development.
The next Chief Minister of Bihar
By Justice Markandey KatjuFrom what I could gather from the internet ( and this is only my own assessment which could be wrong ) Tejaswi Yadav is going to be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.
This is not only evident from the fact that Yadavs ( who are about 14.26 % of the population of Bihar ) and many other backward castes, as well as EBCs ( who are about 36 % ), and Muslims ( who are about 17.7 % ) will mostly vote for the RJD led alliance, but many people of other castes also, who are fed up of the present CM Nitish Kumar, that shameless acrobat, lacking any principles, but with an uncanny knack of holding on to power, who has been swinging from alliance with one party to another, like a trapeze artist, just to remain the CM ( which he has been from 2005-2014, and again from 2015 till today ), but has done nothing to alleviate Bihar's massive poverty, massive unemployment ( which has made a large number of Biharis emigrate to other states for employment ), etc.
So to my mind it is almost certain that Tejaswi Yadav will be the next CM of Bihar.
In his interviews, Tejashwi has been making tall claims of what he will do for Bihar once he becomes the CM, but I take all this with a pinch of salt.
He has said that one member of each family in Bihar will be given a government job. But there are 2.75 crore families in Bihar. Giving a government job to one member in each family will entail expenditure of about Rs 6 lac crores ( some estimate it to be 9 lac crores ). Where will all this money come from ?
Then he said Rs 30, 000 per year will be given to all women in Bihar. Again, where will this money come from ?
He said he will get numerous factories set up in Bihar to give employment. But which businessman will invest in a state so disturbed by political and social strife ?
To this, Tejaswi's response was that law and order will be among his top priorities once he becomes the CM. That may be his own wishful thinking, but what he forgets is that a large number of his party members and supporters are lawless people who care two hoots for law and order. Once he becomes the CM, they will think that now that their party is in power, they have the right to extort money from the public, loot the public coffers, and commit every kind of hooliganism, which they were doing during Lalu Yadav's jungle raj.
The RJD has given its party ticket from Chhapra to the Bhojpuri singer Khesari Lal Yadav, about whom I have written the article.
It is speculated by some that after winning the election, he will pay scant regard to Chhapra and will go back to Mumbai, where he has a house, and is making a lot of money there.
One wishes the RJD had instead given a ticket to the Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore, who has a genuine concern for the people's welfare, as her songs and public statements indicate. For standing with the people, she is facing state harassment in the form of false criminal cases against her, which she is bravely facing, without bowing down before the authorities or giving up her fight and her principles.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
