Ecstatic

I am overjoyed, ecstatic and relieved to know that the Lalu Prasad Yadav rule in Bihar has finally come to an end. It looks like Nitish Kumar and co have won about 150 of the 243 seats in the assembly elections in Bihar. This would mean that withing the end of this week Nitish Kumar (ironically, he was the Railway Minister in the BJP government when Lalu ruled Bihar...Now Lalu is the railway minister) would assume power as the Chief Minister of Bihar. I really dont know Much about Nitish but am fairly confident that he will be better than Lalu. I hope some semblance of normalcy returns to Bihar. One of the first things that must be tackled is Corruption and Violence in this state. The Centre must take this opportunity to invest in some long-term plans for the state. Improving the living conditions of the people while simultaneously educating them is absolutely essential. Orgainizing handloom, handicraft and very very small scale industries and distributed rural employment centers is one option in this regard. But unfortunately the Congress is in power at the center. The problem is that Lalus support is essential for the Congress. Lalu will do everything in his power to keep the Nitish government from being successful which essentially means that he will put pressure on the congress towards inaction. The congress by natutre is quite an inactive and sleepy party. So eventhough their investments in Bihar is absolutelty essential and strategic vision for the country it is highly unlikely that they will come through.


Another interesting result of this electons is the delicate balance of power/party and ideology struggle at the center. The party struggle is led by the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi led Congress combine that must keep all their allies most of whom oppose their ideologies in order to maintain poer at the center. Power struggle will of course be led by the one-and only Lalu. Now that he is ousted fromnn power at the state, he will have to show his might at the central level. Especially with the fodder scam ruling scheduled to be out by March 2006, he will be facing mounting pressure to let the congress combine know that his continued presence in the combine is essential for the government to maintain majority. How the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi combine manage to keep him at bay while retaining his 20 odd seats will be an interesting battle that could endanger the stability of the central government. (We can of course ill afford the cost of another election. ) The ideologyvstruggle of course is led by the left parties who dont want to ever hear the word "efficiency". The policies of disinvestment that the Congress would ideally like to undertake are the antithesis of the left parties ideologies. And keeping the left happy takes even more importance now that the Lalu faction will definitely crave for unfair and power hungry policies.

An interesting year ahead if nothing else :))