Election battle for India's 'failed' state-20/10/2010

Election battle for India's 'failed' state

Published: 20/10/2010 at 11:58 AM

Online news: Asia

Often pilloried as the most lawless, impoverished, backward region of India, the eastern state of Bihar goes to the polls Thursday as one of the country's least likely economic success stories.


File photo of an Indian family inside their dwelling in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Around 40 percent of Biharis still live below the poverty line, illiteracy rates are among the worst in India and Transparency International India labelled it the country's most corrupt state in 2005.
The challenges faced by the caste-ridden state remain formidable, but the past five years have witnessed an undeniable turnaround for which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is claiming credit as he seeks another five-year term.

With a population of 83 million -- larger than Germany's -- Bihar has for decades been something of a developmental basket-case, lagging behind the rest of the country in almost every significant social and economic indicator.

Around 40 percent of Biharis still live below the poverty line, illiteracy rates are among the worst in India and Transparency International India labelled it the country's most corrupt state in 2005.

During Kumar's tenure, however, the state has notched up an impressive annual economic growth rate -- albeit off a very low base -- of around 11 percent in the past five years, second only to the industrially developed western state of Gujarat.

The turnaround has garnered international media attention, including ringing endorsements of the state government's achievements in The New York Times as well as The Economist magazine, which spoke of "The Bihari Enlightenment".

Staggered polls to Bihar's 243-seat assembly begin Thursday and, in a major break from the past, the issue of economic development has taken prominence over caste-based politics.

Kumar is running on a pledge to transform Bihar into "a developed state" by 2015, asking for another five years to overhaul the state's woeful transport infrastructure, health and education systems and investment profile.

The chief minister, whose regional Janata Dal (United) party leads a coalition government in the state with the Hindu nationalist BJP party, has highlighted his success in improving law and order in a state notorious for banditry and gangsterism.

His main challenge comes from the Rashtriya Janata Dal party of regional strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav and India's ruling Congress party, which insists Bihar's improving fortunes are due to the flow of central funds into the state.

Yadav, a wily, populist politician, became chief minister of Bihar in 1990 and was re-elected in 1995.

He was forced to step down during his second term because of corruption charges but appointed his illiterate wife as his replacement. She ruled until Kumar's election victory in 2005.

"Bihar's key problems are social inequity and development," said P.P. Ghosh, director of the regional Asian Development Research Institute, a private think-tank in the state capital Patna.

"Yadav addressed only the first issue which led to the emergence of a new class who had traditionally remained in the sidelines, but Kumar tackled the issue of development," Ghosh told AFP.

Kumar has accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of trying to "mislead" voters by insisting that funding from the central government is the main reason for the surge in Bihar's economic performance, but some analysts say New Delhi's role has been significant.

"Earlier, central government funds for Bihar remained largely on paper but now they are coming in terms of salaries and welfare schemes and our economy is on the rise," said Ajay Jha of Bihar's A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies.

"No private investment is coming, so whatever the growth rate is, it is because of the investments into the state sector," the Patna-based analyst said.