Laloo Raj

Laloo is the darling of the liberal media and has perfected the art of manipulating television to his advantage so the damage that he and his wife have done to Bihar remains largely unreported. Only in passing, and half in jest, do we hear about the total collapse of law and order, absence of investment, shameless nepotism, virulent casteism and rampant corruption that have flourished under the reign of Mr and Mrs Laloo. Proud as they are of being poor and illiterate they have done almost nothing for the people they claim to represent. They have learned middle-class ways themselves and send their many children to schools that teach in the English medium and colleges in foreign lands but the people of Bihar have been forced to learn to live without minimum aspirations.

No schools, no healthcare, no roads, no electricity. Instead what they have got is massive doses of casteism and ‘‘secularism’’ and a ruling couple who pass their rusticity off as concern for the poor. A story that comes to mind whenever I write about Bihar is that of a drive from Dumrao to Benares last year. Not a great distance really and Uttar Pradesh is far from being one of our model States but what contrasts. On the Bihar side of the border we bumped along one of the worst roads I have seen. We passed villages that lay in total darkness and reeked of cow dung and human excrement and semi-dark small towns whose shabby bazaars were lit with the dimmest of yellow bulbs.

Once we crossed the border, the road improved dramatically and at the end of it shone Benares like a vision of light and beauty. My taxi-driver gawped and stared openly at the opulence of the shops and the streets filled with expensive cars. When I asked if he saw the difference between Bihar and UP he replied that he did see it, anyone would, but he was Muslim and his vote would go to Laloo Yadav because even if he did nothing for Bihar, Muslims felt safe under his rule. That was before the last Assembly election, this time we have Ram Vilas Paswan in competition for the Muslim vote and he is likely to be as cynical about manipulating Muslim insecurities to get it.

But, there are issues that arise out of the Bihar elections that are bigger than the petty ambitions of its political leaders. If you travel to southern India these days you will almost certainly run into at least one person who will point out that our southern States are growing these days at 10% and 15% and that the overall growth of India’s economy is being dragged down by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. How long do you think they will take it, someone asked me not long ago in Bangalore. How long will the southern States put up with the millstone of Bihar dragging them down at every step?

When I told him I was not sure what to say in response he said with quiet, southern Indian understatement, ‘‘People are becoming impatient here. They are losing patience with States like Bihar.’’ Frankly, so are a lot of other Indians and there is no point in blaming democracy for Laloo and Rabri still being where they are. The last election may not have come up with a clear winner but it did come up with a clear loser: Laloo Yadav. We have to thank Mr and Mrs Morality, Dr Manmohan Singh and Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, if Laloo manages to win this time round.

Write to tavleensingh@expressindia.com