Bihar elections: Changing paradigms of a failed state

Bihar, historically has always been a politically active state. A state, where people eat and sleep with politics. With feelings of caste and religion deeply rooted in the mindset of an average Bihari, any election eventually turns out to be a caste warfare. A dismal literacy rate of 47 percent also is one of the factors why caste and religion play a dominant role in elections in Bihar.

Laloo Prasad Yadav was the first person to realize this. His social engineering found a large audience in the form of poor, underprivileged people in rural sections of Bihar. Development went for a toss and casteist politics became the call of the day. He (mis)ruled the state first himself, and then with a proxy from 1997 till 2005, when JD(U) with the support of BJP first ousted him from the power.

Once a best governed state during independence, Bihar turned into a mess which no one cared to clear. The first winds of change was seen in 2005, when JD(U)-BJP combine won fair number of seats in Assembly and laid claims for forming a coalition government in Patna. With Ram Vilas Paswan playing a "king-maker" role, Laloo was almost certain to be ousted from power. That was when, once a strong ally, and then a power in Center, the great Congress Party came for his help. Congress agent and Bihar Governor, Mr Buta Singh dissolved the assembly and thwarted NDA, which was almost certain to form government in Bihar. President rule was imposed on Bihar and re-election was scheduled for October-November. People of Bihar, sensing the foul play, gave NDA complete majority this time to lay claims for power and Nitish Kumar became the Chief minister.

This was the turn around moment for many's fortunes.

Nitish Kumar, because he got a chance to undo whatever bad was done during Laloo-Rabri-Congress regime. With the extensive work done on improving infrastructure and law and order in Bihar, he established himself as "Vikas Purush", never before heard in the history of the state. People began to see a light at the end of the long dark tunnel of 15 years misrule by RJD.

Laloo Yadav, because he was relegated in the back seat for the first time in his political career. In subsequent elections his vote bank began to erode, so much so that in 2009 general elections he managed to win only 4 seats out of 40.

Congress, sensing that there is no more steam left in Laloo, started distancing itself from him. In 2010 assembly elections, it for the first time went all alone contesting on all seats on offer in Bihar. If exit polls are anything to go by, it clearly shows that Congress can dent hard the vote bank of RJD-LJP combine. For now, we can wait till November end to see the actual results.

Ram Vilas Paswan, once touted as king-maker, now is nowhere near to his glory days. He too suffered the similar fate as that of his now staunch ally Laloo. His disastrous showing in Lok Sabha elections 2009 was a clear signal that people can't be fool again and again on casteist agendas.

Rabri Devi, a reluctant and least qualified person to ever sit on CM's throne, with due respect, can peacefully go back to her kitchen. Seriously, how can you expect a simple housewife with 5th grade education as her only achievement in life to rule over second most populous state. This was a blasphemy and something for which people of Bihar can never forgive Laloo.

And finally Bihar, which till 2005, a laggard state in every aspect, has begun to show some signs of recovery. With increased investment in infrastructure, greater emphasis on education, vastly improved law and order situation and a visibly better governance, Bihar can look forward to attain its long lost glory.

Development is the new theme on which elections are set to be fought over in Bihar now. May the politics over caste and religion be history now and so may Laloo and Paswan.

Women's reservation bill: Will it really help?

One of the most significant political achievements in recent times, the passage of Women's reservation bill in Rajya Sabha, in a way is a preclude to the evolution of a major political class in the days to come. It signifies a major shift in the attitude of male dominated political class. Very few countries have dared to implement such law which can bring about a change in how a particular class is perceived, politically as well as socially.

For long, not only in India but in almost every part of the world women haven't been viewed with the same lenses with which a man is seen. For long, this section has been perceived not as a leader but a mute follower. Exceptions were always there. But they were few and far in between. There was an Indira Gandhi or a Benazir Bhutto or a Hillary Clinton. But, we all know from where they all came from. Had it not been a Nehru or a Bhutto or a Clinton around, we probably won't have heard the above mentioned names.

What this bill targets is creating not an Indira or Benazir but many more of Mayawatis or Mamta Bannerjis.

Since independence, our policy makers are designing policies favouring larger participation of women section in nation's growth. But still, female literacy lags behind a pathetic 54 percent. If we want to create a truly democratic society, then women empowerment is one of the foremost goals to achieve. There can be several ways of getting close to that goal. Providing better economic opportunities, better education facilities, or greater political representation could be the few possible ways which come directly to the mind.

Out of these three, providing political representation through reservation is one means by which parties can gain the maximum political mileage in the shortest span of time. And we all know how far-sighted our parties are, so the bill was the call of the day.

The Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996. Though, it has been introduced in Parliament several times since then, the Bill didn't see the light of the day because of lack of political consensus. Stuck long for about fourteen years in parliament, the bill finally passed with near unanimous agreement this February. Most of the major political parties supported the bill whole heartedly. A few disagreements arose, uproar in Rajya Sabha happened, a few MPs expelled for their indiscipline, but amidst of all these the bill was finally passed with 186 votes in favour and 1 against.

We will try to scrutinize the bill in detail in subsequent sections, but before proceeding further, a little detail about what actually encompasses the bill.

Major points:

- Bill provides 33% reservation for women in the Parliament and all Legislative Assemblies. In already reserved seats for SC/ST, one-third be reserved for women.

- Billl doesn't provide any separate reservation for minorities and OBCs' women.

- Bill provides the provision of rotation of constituencies, which means that every constituency will be reserved for women at least once in 15 years. In normal cases elections are held every five years, so each constituency undergoes election exactly three times. Out of these 3 terms, one term will be reserved for women, and rest two open for all.

- No provision made for any reservation in upper house of parliament, Rajya Sabha.

- Bill expires after a period of 15 years.

This is it.

The bill says it all. More reservation. More promise of upliftment. The question arises, will the above measures really help, and more important, is it really required?

The bill says that every constituency will be reserved once for women representatives. What it means is that all the contestants for a particular constituency in a particular election will be women. So, the election of a woman candidate is ensured. But, in subsequent elections that constituency will be made free for any one to contest. This can have positive as well as negative repercussions. A woman candidate can leave a mark on the constituency by her good work and can contest that seat even after the reservation is withdrawn, provided the party supports her candidature. With the male dominated political class this is really a tough thing to achieve because there will be many male politicians gunning for that unreserved seat. This will force that woman to contest from some other reserved constituency which may not be a familiar territory for her. Hence, a low probability of winning the election. So, why would a politician, male or female, be motivated to nurse a particular constituency when he or she is almost guaranteed of not representing the constituency again?

In the current era of modernization (strictly for a few numbered metro cities), the bill certainly doesn't make much sense. Why reservation is needed when we already have a strong, aware female political class comprising of distinguished personalities like Brinda Karat, Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and several others? They didn't require any help to become what they are today. Reservation is definitely a luxury for such class. But as we look deep down, we find the real significance of the bill. For villages and cities in the interiors, reservation is a necessity. Necessity, because it is the mindset of the feudal society, which needs a strong stir, a complete overhaul in its thinking, towards how it perceives women.

The bill is indeed a very powerful tool if used judiciously by the targeted section. But, if we leave a minuscule part of elite urban women population, then we also know that the provisions of the bill will be misused to send more and more dummy representatives to the assemblies. There are many wives and daughters around, who will take the advantage of the bill.

Despite all flaws, we can't deny that a step has been taken, and the step augurs well for the future. Perception towards women needs to be changed, if we want to develop a society equitable in every aspects and there is no denying that the bill will help immensely to achieve that goal.

Pokharan test II - Its significance in India's modern history

Pokharan test in 1998 in many ways was a landmark incident in modern Indian history. It was the first time when India openly shrugged off her nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament stance against the powerful international lobby despite the numerous sanction threats.

Since the end of World War II, world was inequitably divided into two groups: one with nuclear power and the other without it. 98 percent of the countries of the world fall into the later with only USA, UK, France, Soviet Union and China being the privileged ones. Just after the aftermath of WW2, a Non Proliferation Treaty for Nuclear weapons was conceptualized among the nations winning the war. The treaty said that only four of the nations namely, the USA, the UK, the Soviet Union and France were authorized to produce and maintain their nuclear artilleries. Any other country if found to work with this technology will be dealt with firm hands and will have to face consequences in the form of political and economical ostracisms and even with military incursions. China being a major power at the time of formation of treaty was treated as an exception and thus it too became a part of the Big four. And thus a BIG five was formed which for the next four decades maintained its hegemony over the world till India became the first country to challenge that, which we will come in subsequent passages.

Subsequently, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was created to endorse the earlier one, the NPT, specifying ways in which the sanctions would be applied to the violating countries. Most of the nations in the world were forced to endorse both the treaties with a few exceptions like India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran etc.

Since independence, India has followed a policy of non-alignment, which helped India maintain an equal distance from two major blocks developing after the WW2, namely the capitalist block with USA as its head and the communist block with USSR as its lead. India knew that endorsing any of the treaty like CTBT or NPT will eventually come in the way of maintaining an independent foreign policy. Also, India after independence was surrounded by nations which were not exactly friends with her. Pakistan in collusion with China and USA always used to threaten and transgress the Indian borders as were in 1948, 1965, 1971 and later on in 1999. In 1971, after its creation, Bangladesh also joined the chorus along with Pakistan. China in 1962 war also made clear its intentions of animosity. So, with these insurmountable problems India's harmonious existence has always been in danger.

In the wake of these threats, Congress government with Indira Gandhi as its head conducted the subdued first test in Pokharan. Subdued, because India was not a big power then to face international sanctions from all corners and to jeopardize its growth. India was still a country which needed much international support and aid for its existence. It has not become self dependent. Fifteen years later BJP government came into power overcoming much of the political turmoil with AB Vajpayee becoming Prime Minister of India the third time in three years. Due to some political pressure and due to some existential pressure, the BJP government in order to show India's mettle to the world and hence the government's mettle to its people conducted the TEST in 1999, which in many ways established India as an important player in the world politics.

India successfully conducted three nuclear tests in Pokharan under the able guidance of our former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, then the chief of nuclear operations. International community reacted sharply with USA, UN and other nations imposing several kinds of bans and sanctions on India. India was banned from participating in most of the international economic forums and several countries cut on the imports from India. Japan, Canada, etc suspended providing aid to India. USA however did not succeed in getting G-8 countries taking collective action against India. Germany, France and Russia continued their economic ties with India. With passage of time, several other countries let go their hard stance over India.

Pokharan II marks an important chapter in the history of India as a evolving democratic, independent nation. Although, India did a diplomatic blunder by openly admitting to the world about the tests, it in many ways helped India gain a prominent position among the powerful nations. India became only the sixth nation in the world to openly admit to have the capacity of producing nuclear technology and hence the weapons on its own. In the hindsight, the tests look like an eventuality which was bound to happen to challenge the old world order and form a new world order with new evolving paradigms. As described by UN General Secretary Mr Kofi Annan - "We can not have two parameters for evaluating different nations. At one hand CTBT allows the exclusive club to maintain and produce nuclear weapons and at other hand it restricts other countries (India and Pakistan) not to have them".