TNN :
One of the biggest puzzles of this election is the likely fate of Bihar’s Nitish Kumar. After 15 years of hopeless governance by the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi duo, during which lawlessness held sway and the state withered away, Kumar has given seven years of sustained growth. To those familiar with Bihar, it’s plain to the eye. The roads are good, most villages have electricity for 16-18 hours, the goons have vanished, and life, generally speaking, is much, much better. And yet Kumar’s JD(U) is getting so badly squeezed in this election that pollsters put his tally at a pathetic two or three of the 40 seats.
So does development matter? Is there no reward for a man who has provided an average of 12% growth, brought down the infant mortality rate from 61 per 1000 in 2005 to 43 in 2013, increased the average immunization rate from a measly 18% to 68%, taken the girl child to school, spent Rs 4,000 crore on building 18,000 km of roads, increased power supply from 900mw to 4,000mw, and put 83,000 hardened criminals in jail? Apparently not, at least, not in this election.
