Poor representation of Bihar in the Union cabinet

The wheel has turned a full circle in almost 18 long years. After the 1991 parliamentary election only one minister from Bihar, Krishna Shahi, was inducted into the Narasimha Rao cabinet. She was minister of state for industry. In 2009 only Meira Kumar found her place. Like Shahi she also comes from the family of old Congressman. She is the daughter of former deputy Prime Minister, Jagjiwan Ram. Meira was the minister of state in the outgoing cabinet too.

While Shahi comes from Bhumihar caste Meira, who incidentally got the cabinet rank this time, is a Dalit. While in 1991 Congress won only one seat this time it got two, thus there is a scope for one more ministry in the future. However, unlike 1991-96 there is no scope of Congress later getting any minister from the Rajya Sabha quota as there is no member in the Upper House from the party nor can there be any in the near future as the party has only nine MLAs in the Bihar assembly.

So once again it is the era of poor representation of Bihar in the Union cabinet. Between June 1, 1996 when Deve Gowda took over as the Prime Minister to May 16, 2009 Bihar had a great time so far representation in the cabinet is concerned. At times there used to be 10 to 11 ministers from the state. Be it Gowda, Gujral, Vajpayee or Manmohan cabinet, ministers from Bihar always got good portfolios such as Railways, Finance, Defence, Rural Development, Civil Aviation, Steel and Fertilizer, Communication etc.

After 13 long years Bihar has lost its bargaining position. Howsoever, critical one may be of Lalu Yadav-Ram Vilas Paswan duo one can not deny that it was due to them that Bihar got some mega projects in the last few years. Be it the number of trains, zonal headquarters (at Hajipur), engine factories, steel plants or IIT and central university the two leaders did make some efforts. In November last year they shared dais with the chief minister Nitish Kumar in the function organized for the revival of the sick fertilsier plant in Barauni. However, it is also true that some of the projects started by them failed to become operational till yet.

Before them the 11-strong ministers from Bihar in the Vajpayee cabinet also made their own contributions. Nitish Kumar brought railway projects such as bridges over Ganga in Patna and Munger and Kosi at one place, workshop at Harnaut, doubling and electrification of railway tracks etc. Besides, it was due to his efforts that the NTPC plant came to Barh. It is other thing that due to political considerations work is going on at snail’s pace in these projects. Now it is feared that these projects may get delayed further.

It needs to be mentioned that before 1990 Bihar was a neglected state. Same party government in the Centre and state was being attributed to the absence of investment. The state Congress leaders did not have the guts to ask for more help even though the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in the late 1980s announced Rs 5,700 crore package for Bihar––though it is alleged that it remained only on paper.

In the early 1990s this phenomenon continued. The state got embroiled in the Mandal-Mandir controversy. Lalu Yadav was more interested in empowering the backward castes and Dalits. However, as the chief minister he called for the better royalty on coal and other minerals from the state and removal of freight equalization policy which hit Bihar and other mineral rich states very hard. He also called for the implementation of Gadgil formula for state’s share. However, there was no one to push these demands of Bihar in the Centre.

After 1996 the situation did change a little. Be it Ram Vilas Paswan between 1996 and 1998 and Nitish Kumar and others after 1998 they all thought that if they want to counter the growing influence of Lalu Yadav they would have to adopt some different approach. Though Paswan was in the same party in which Lalu was (then Janata Dal) he wanted to develop his own separate constituency. The development works he initiated was largely meant to accommodate his own men and give them contracts. Unlike Lalu, who was then the chief minister of Bihar for over six long years, he had no other option to keep his flock together. Nitish and other ministers from Bihar also adopted the same strategy later.

Though this investment story had an abrupt start it at least helped Bihar grow. After Bokaro Steel Plant of early 1960s––it is now in Jharkhand––Bihar had never seen so much investment in such a short time. Lalit Narayan Mishra did bring some trains in the early 1970s but he was then assassinated. Strangely the catalyst for change was none else but Lalu Yadav. Thus there was gradual shift in the state politics.

Bihar lost the mineral rich portion of Jharkhand in November 2000. The state assembly resolution of Rs 1,79,000 crore special package as compensation was never accepted, yet during the Vajpayee government and then again under Manmohan Singh government, investments of more than Rs one lakh crore came to Bihar, most of them once again in railways. However, several mega power and road projects too were taken up by the Centre. Investments also came in the field of rural roads, rural electrification, communication etc.

A decade and a half later Bihar, it is feared, will be back to where it was in the early 1990s. The state Congress leaders simply do not have the courage to espouse the cause of Bihar. They do not have even the nuisance value. Now much depends on the maneuvering skill of the chief minister, Nitish Kumar. But the establishment in Delhi is too thick-skinned to feel and too deaf to listen. Let us see how it works now.link