Bihar handed over the sweep mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday. With almost all opinion polls predicting a slight lead for the NDA, the complete collapse of the opposition RJD-Congress alliance came as a surprise. Pune is home to a large Bihari immigrant population. Indian Express I spoke to a few to get their perspective on the crucial mandate.
“The result is unexpected,” said Sudhir Shrivastav, a journalist turned financial consultant based in Pune. “It was clear during the elections that the NDA would form the government. But such a large margin was not expected, that’s one aspect. There are two or three factors, according to me, that influenced (the elections). The first is that before the model code of conduct was announced, Rs 10,000 was given to women. I think a woman in an interior village who had not even seen Rs 1,000 once did not get Rs 10,000 in her account, it’s like a dream.
“What the BJP did is that they did not highlight Tejasvi Yadav’s period but they highlighted Lalu Yadav’s period 20 years ago. But the last 20 years were your government and instead of talking about their achievements, they talked about the past. Anyway, now that they have won, I congratulate them. I feel they should focus on employment and not on distributing freebies. Pay three times the wages but make people work instead of giving things for free,” he added.
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Rajeev Kumar, steel industry professional, said:I felt like there would be a fight between them. (I thought it would be a close fight.) Because it has been 20 years (of the Nitish Kumar government). After 20 years, there is also anti-incumbency. But whatever happens is good. Jungle Raj will not return.” RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s government in Bihar was referred to as the “Jungle Raj” by critics in reference to the poor law and order situation during that time.
Regarding the kind of work undertaken under Nitish Kumar, he said: “It is not like Bihar will become Maharashtra so quickly. It is happening slowly. When I go to my village, I find a huge difference in systems here and there. If there is a small town, there is farmland surrounding it and the town is very crowded. Here, there is not much crowding.”
He believed that immigration is the major issue that the new government must focus on. “Even if people get some small jobs, they will not come here. As for people who get bigger salaries or good jobs, it is different. But someone comes here for Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, and in my opinion this is exploitation,” Singh said.
Shweta Singh, a visiting law faculty at various law colleges in Pune, shared her opinion on the result, saying, “It was an expected result that BJP and JD(U) won. Most of us who have stayed in Bihar for a long time, considering where Bihar has come compared to the past, Nitish Kumar has done a good job. When we were kids it was not very safe, especially for people from the business class. Cities like Patna have developed. Earlier politics were more inclined towards it. The BJP has also done very well in other states.” Where it is in the government, so I hope that their coming to power will bring about more changes.
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(tags for translation) Bihar election result
