Lalu, Nitish and Sonia: Does Bihar really need them back?
There was something bordering on dark humour about the recent so-called Swabhiman rally of anti-Modi forces in Bihar, brought together it seems, according to the statements in their speeches, to save not only Bihar but the whole of India from tyranny, corruption and evil.
The rally, which appeared like a reunion of old socialist leaders in India, set forth the anti-Modi strategy for the upcoming Bihar elections and should provide a good index of what is likely to follow that we should take note of.
Center stage went to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the king of the jungle raj, who had been previously convicted in the fodder scam and sentenced to five years in prison, but was strangely let out from jail early in what hardly appeared to be a hallmark of good justice in India. Lalu criticised Modi for being corrupt and divisive in his politics, areas in which Lalu's own personal expertise is well known.
Lalu appeared as the leader and policy maker for the group and had clearly extracted his pound of flesh from his new allies. Lalu was joined by Nitish Kumar, who ironically took power only a few years ago by running against Lalu, campaigning to end Lalu's corrupt jungle raj. Now Nitish seems to be happy to be running in the jungle with Lalu.
Sonia Gandhi appeared as the third member of the grand alliance. Yet regal Sonia seemed out of place, as if reduced to a mere cohort of Lalu and Nitish, no longer herself the national leader but a regional figure, with her party reduced to a distant third in the seat allotments for the three parties in the upcoming Bihar elections.
Corruption, scam and autocrats
The Congress party once debated whether it would embrace Lalu again after his conviction, so as not to be tainted by charges of aligning with forces of corruption. That nowhere figures in the discussion today. The Congress seems to have forgotten that when Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi ruled Bihar for 15 years - which often had the Congress support then as well - every economic and social ranking of the state went to the lowest level compared to all the other states in India.
Yet the Congress has its own history of corruption. Ten years of Sonia Gandhi ruling the country by proxy in the background included the coal scam, the 2G spectrum scam, the CWG scam, the Adarsh scam, and many more. To date we do not find the expected convictions, paybacks or even adequate apologies for these scams.
We must remember Indira Gandhi among socialist autocrats as well. She tried to implement her own state socialism that was a one party if not one family dictatorship during the Emergency era of the 1970s, but she was chastened by voters and forced to back off. Yet overall the Congress party seems to still hold to the idea that India should be ruled primarily by one party and one family, as well as by the same type of old socialist policies that Sonia, Lalu and Nitish feel that Modi is compromising, if not betraying.
If we are at all honest, we must admit that the corruption and inefficiency that lingers in India today owes a lot to the old socialist raj and its elite, such as are seeking power again in Bihar. The old socialist leaders and their coteries amassed great wealth for themselves and their families that they still have in great abundance. Their periods of rule did not bring India forward on the world stage or bring out the country's great potentials, but kept it backward and undeveloped, particularly for the common man.
The question arises: Does India really need the return of such old socialist warlords as Lalu Prasad Yadav and their failed policies?
It is not new technology and access to global markets that they are famous for but good old arm-twisting and the exploitation of the masses.