Dawn Is Far Away

I write this on the last day of the elections in Bihar. TV channels andnewspapers are busy speculating about the seemingly infinite permutations andcombinations that may be possible after the results. I don’t care. WhetherLalu wins or loses, it won’t make any difference to my Bihar.

The first thing that Bihar needs is sustained law and order. It has to be agenuine war against the criminals. I don’t see any politician in Bihar beingbrave enough to lead this war. Each one has too many goondas in hisparty. Each one is captive to too many vested interests. Each one is hungeringfor revenge. One set of criminals may replace another set of criminals. Symboliccrackdowns may be done. Brave words will definitely be spoken. People and mediamay be fooled; but they can’t fool money. Money doesn’t flow to a placewhere there is no law and order. And money alone knows if the law and ordersituation is genuine or a bunch of contrived statistics.

With no investment flowing in, Bihar needs a revenue model. Currently, thereis none. I don’t see any of the competing politicians having the vision tocreate one either. Agriculture is the economic backbone of the state. Thisbackbone has many slipped discs already. If agriculture alone continues to bethe revenue generator, given our traditional left-of-center agriculture policy,Bihar is condemned. Bangalore and Hyderabad grew on IT. Goa and Kerela grew ontourism. Bihar needs a flagship offering, around which growth will crystallize.There is none on the horizon. Nothing was discussed during the elections. Noideas offered.

With no investments and no revenue earner in sight, Bihar needs financialtransparency and accountability to use whatever it has most efficiently. Itneeds to put the bijli, sadak, paani agenda into action, but to do thatit needs to display financial integrity. At the very least, it needs to shiftits mindset to an "efficient model of corruption". In this, politicians andtheir cohorts take "cuts" on growth. The Bihar model of corruption is toloot at source. This leaves nothing for infrastructure development. I don’tforesee any one amongst the current contenders resisting from robbing thetreasury.

With the three basic requirements not being addressed, Bihar will continue onits downward spiral. Maoist insurgency will rise dramatically. Central packageswill be announced but the money will continue to vanish. With its relativelylarge number of Lok Sabha seats, the central government will continue to avoidtaking any tough action. And the wicked wheel of Fortuna will go on turning.

Till about fifteen years ago, Bihar was to India what India was to the world.People would ask questions like "How come people from Bihar do so welloutside?" and "Bihar has everything; then why doesn’t it do well?" Indiahas pulled ahead. It has created islands of global competence and affluence. Butfor India to grow truly, Bihar has to change. Because like it or not, there is aBihar inside every state, wrestling with progress; trying to hold it back. Forthat reason, the challenge of Bihar is not that of Bihar alone.

If you think that Bihar is a land of darkness, think again. It’s not evenevening yet. The true nightmare is yet to unfold. Maybe then, someone willemerge with some guts. Till then, continue to laugh at Lalu’s antics. He knowsthat when people don’t have any hope for the future, making them laugh is thebest thing you can do.

And that’s why, I think that he’ll win again.