The people from other states of India have a misconception that people of Bihar vote only on the basis of the caste. Yes, they do, but tell me who don’t? Apparently, Bihar has caste based politics but not every citizen of the state does that. They are very few people who do so. The caste system isn’t the problem of Bihar alone, it is spread in the whole country. They said people of Bihar can’t think beyond the caste system, Biharis are stupid. But, let me tell you, people of Bihar are the most intelligent voters. People of Bihar are always curious about the country's politics. It might be because of various reasons. One of the reason may be because of their ancestors. Let me explain to you through series of happenings...
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| Nitish Kumar |
General Election 2014, it was the time for the change. The Indian National Congress ruled the country for almost 60 years and the country has seen all the biggest scams and corruptions in those years. The congress party became the most corrupt party in the world. In such a critical situation, this country needed better options. But the options were limited. The 2014 election was Rahul Gandhi vs Arvind Kejriwal vs Narendra Modi. Arvind Kejriwal was like new born baby of the Indian politics. He might be good or bad but, the fact was people didn’t know his capability as he resigned as the Delhi Chief Minister just after 49 days of his oath. Now, the battle was Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi. People were already unhappy with the Congress and then they declared Rahul as the Prime Ministerial candidate. It was an obvious reaction to most of the responsible voter of the country that they'll vote for Narendra Modi. Do you know the stupid casteist people of Bihar voted for whom? Out of 40 seats, NDA won 35 seats. It’s because people of Bihar wanted Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. They knew it was the only option. Do you still think Biharis vote only on the Basis of Caste? Was he Narendra Damodar, a YADAV or Modi? If Yadavs would have voted for Lalu Yadav, someone from his party would be the Union Minister in the NDA govt. So, can someone still say that it was caste based voting? I don't agree.
Now coming to, 2015 Vidhan Sabha Election of Bihar. Nitish Kumar ruled the state for almost 15 years, now the state was looking for a change. But, there wasn’t any option other than Nitish Kumar himself. BJP had no chief ministerial face in Bihar. In fact, if you look closely towards BJP Bihar, there wasn’t even any good politician. BJP might be the best option in many states but in Bihar, it was the worst option. People of Bihar might vote for BJP but who would become their CM then? Sushil Kumar Modi? No. He isn't the good option. Believe me, BJP was the worst option in Bihar. So, the only option left was Nitish Kumar and he was not the bad option either. He wasn’t perfect or the best option but he was the only option. Because Bihar has witnessed many good works during his terms. Only people of Bihar can realize that how much effort did he put in to transform the law and order of the state, Worst road transportation in the country became one of the best in the country, Electrification, Education, Women empowerment etc was few of the notable works in his term. Even, his political opponent praised his works. Moving towards the fact, the crime rate in Bihar (a.k.a. Jungle Raj) is less than Gujrat, Delhi, and many other states. It’s all because of Nitish Kumar's bold steps taken in his term. GDP of the state had changed drastically in his term. During his second term, Bihar held the position of the most developing state of the country. He did many revolutionary things in the state. My point is, Nitish Kumar might not be perfect or the best, but he was better than the BJP in the last election. My point is, people of Bihar didn't choose Jungle Raj, but the better among the worst.
The same voters, who voted for Modi in 2014 general election and gave 35 seats out of 40 seats to NDA, did not vote for NDA this time. Why? Was it because this time NDA failed to calculate the different castes of the state? No, if 2014 election was caste based voting in Bihar, BJP must have won this time also. It was the people of Bihar, who voted according to the need. In 2014, India needed Modi, they choose Modi, then in 2015, Bihar needed Nitish, they choose Nitish. I don't see caste based voting, do you?
People of Bihar did not vote for Jungle Raj. In fact, there isn’t jungle Raj in Bihar. Whoever says anything like that, I’m sure they haven’t seen Bihar through their eyes. They have seen Bihar by their ears, I mean they talk about Bihar on the basis of what they have heard from someone. Bihar is as normal state as others. Don't believe me? Do visit Bihar.