Updated: October 17, 2020 7:58:50 am
A group of villagers discuss politics in Kalyan Bigha, in Bihar’s Harnaut Assembly constituency. (Express photo by Dipankar Ghose)
The road is smooth, paved, with white markers in the middle that speak of a recent coat of paint. The fields are green on both sides. At the entrance to the village, there is an ITI and then a referral hospital. One signage even boasts of having a shooting range. Kalyan Bigha, in the Nalanda district, shows the signs of administrative care, being the village of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Its residents say that until now, with the town seeing so much work, there has been unanimity among residents, crossing castes, supporting Kumar in the polls. But this time, cracks are appearing in that building.
Harnaut’s largest assembly constituency is closest to a Nitish Kumar stronghold. It was from here that he won his first election for the assembly in 1985, on his third attempt, and then again in 1995. For the last three terms, there has been a JDU MLA, Harinarayan Singh, who is contesting the elections again, in a seat going to the polls in the second round on November 3.
On Thursday morning, just off the paved road and near a temple, a group of six village elders sat down to discuss politics. They are all Kurmi, but they believe that “only a fool would vote for someone else” other than Nitish Kumar. “What hasn’t he done for this village? There is a road, a large public school, an ITI, a hospital. We remember the days before he became Chief Minister, when we had to carry our sick in charpais through the fields because there was no road. The snakes would bite us, and even 4 km away in Harnaut, there was no guarantee that the patient would live. This development, isn’t it for everyone? All the people of Kalyan Bigha always vote for Nitish Kumar, ”said Umesh Kumar.
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And yet this preference for Nitish Kumar does not mean that there is happiness about government policies in the last six months. In Kalyan Bigha, says Umesh Kumar, there has not been a single case of Covid-19D, and that has led to disenchantment with the shutdown and other measures to prevent its spread. Not a single person in the town wears a mask, nor is there social distancing.
“Agar gaon mein, jaan pehchan mein kisi ko hua hi nahi, toh kaise maan le Corona hai? (If no one in town has tested positive, how do we think Corona exists?). And this government locked up the country. Our children in the cities had to return because there was no money and the condition is still bad, ”said Kumar.
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There is another reason why anger bubbles to the surface. The next few days will bring both Durga Puja and Chhath, and the decision not to allow “melas” during this period is not being welcomed. “If we go through a crisis, people should be able to come together and pray to God. These are our most important festivals. The mela would mean that this temple behind you would be full. There would be lights in the town and food stalls and other little shops. Now everything is gone, ”said another old man.
When asked if they hold someone accountable, there is silence. “Everyone here will vote for Nitish Kumar. Our village and constituency have changed. That is your answer, ”said Umesh Kumar.
Not everyone. Two hundred meters away, Pawan Paswan is filling water at the area’s hand pump. Until a few months ago, he worked as a day laborer in Mithapur in Patna, 60 km away. When work stopped, he returned home.
“It has never been so bad for the poor. Even in the village, there is work in its parts, ”he points out to the elderly, who are all Kurmi. “We always vote for Nitish Kumar in town, but this time, the Paswans are talking about voting for the LJP. Even Dalits may not vote for Nitish Kumar. He could win this seat, but he doesn’t have our vote, ”Paswan said.
About 10 km away, another group of elders, mostly from programmed castes, sit by a road in the town of Telmar. If Kalyan Bigha has pucca houses, the houses in the Telmar basti are side by side, their thatched roofs are in urgent need of repair, the open drains flow to one side. Here too, Naresh Ravidas says that some might still vote for Nitish Kumar because it is their seat, but in the last five years, “Kumar had stopped working for the poor.” “Road banaya, lekin road pe toh gaadi chalti hai na? Humein kya mila? (He has built roads, but the cars are on the roads. What did we get?), ”He said.
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The economic distress of the shutdown is prevalent everywhere in Bihar, and in Telmar, there is much talk about it.
“Everything has stopped, the prices of vegetables have gone up. Potatoes cost Rs 80 per kilo. Can a poor man buy that? They say they gave five kilos of ration and 1 kilo of dal. I have 9 people in my house, but only 5 people received it. Tell me how long will it last then? Nitish Kumar has given textbooks, but our school teacher is not coming. I can promise you that a student in class 9 cannot write her own name, ”said Ravidas.
There are also reports of how the caste has entered into administrative decisions in Telmar, and this has angered the cataloged castes.
“If the upper castes or the Kurmis want a community hall, they get it. For years, we have been asking for one. We need it more. Our houses are small and ramshackle, there is no room for anything. But they don’t. If something is built in the town, it is on their side, never ours. The government promised 3 tenths of land to the landless. Not many people have it. These last five years have not been good, “said Ravidas.
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This remains Nitish Kumar’s strength and despite opposition to local MLA Harinarayan Singh for “not visiting us”, the prevailing assessment is that the JDU will win the seat. But there are murmurs that indicate a greater anti-concern, among the poor, which has repercussions for the rest of the state.
An elder from Telmar expresses the sentiment: “At least in the raj of Lalu, we had some respect. Harnaut mein toh Nitish jeet jayega, lekin bahar kya hoga? (Nitish will win Harnaut, but what will happen elsewhere?) “Another says that among the scheduled Breeds, Nitish Kumar would win all the votes in Telmar.”Is baar, 12 haath Nitish jeetega, toh chaar haath koi aur (Nitish will get the most votes), ”he said. Naresh Ravidas disagrees. “8 haath aur 8 haath bhi ho sakta hai (It can be an even contest) “.
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