Nitish Kumar is being selective with numbers
Buoyed by the figures of the Central Statistics Office that show a growth rate for Bihar at 15.05 per cent in 2012-13, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been flaunting his credentials as a deserving prime ministerial candidate. In a clear jab at the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, he has said, “All these people who are roaming around, am I any less in comparisonIJ” While Mr Nitish Kumar has the right to promote himself and take credit for the GDP growth in Bihar, he is being economical with the truth. In his bid to somehow position himself as a contender in the eventuality — the prospect of which is dim — of a rag-tag front staking claim to power after the lok Sabha election, he has forgotten to add that the growth rate has actually dipped by nearly half in the subsequent year, to 8.82 per cent. If he can take pride in the growth, he must assume responsibility for the significant slowdown as well. The reason why Mr Nitish Kumar would prefer to ignore the 2013-14 statistics is because it coincides with the collapse of the alliance between his Janata Dal (United) and the BJP in the State Government. The high growth rate of 2012-13 came at a time when BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi was the State's Finance Minister. Bipartisan observers have always maintained that it was under the wise stewardship of Mr Sushil Kumar Modi that the State managed to turn around and clean the mess that lalu Prasad's regime had left behind. Mr Nitish Kumar too had praised his then Finance Minister on many occasions for the latter's excellent performance. The two figures demonstrate at least one thing: That the Bihar Government, after the departure of the BJP from the coalition, has failed to maintain the momentum of growth. Many reasons can be ascribed to this situation, and one of them is that the Chief Minister lost the services of an able Finance Minister. In addition though, the other primary cause of the decline is Mr Nitish Kumar's failure to concentrate as much as he needs to, on the economic affairs of the State. The political churning which began after the break-up seems to be seizing a good deal of the Chief Minister's attention and diverting his mind from the task of governance. The issue is not about Mr Nitish Kumar's competence; he has lost a capable hand who took bold and sagacious decisions.
The 2013-14 figures which the Chief Minister may not want to discuss, and the 2012-13 figures which he proudly displays, cannot be seen in isolation. The JD(U)-BJP alliance regime had done a commendable job of reversing the ills of governance left behind by the Rashtriya Janata Dal Governments of lalu Prasad and Ms Rabri Devi. This reversal had to do with more than the fiscal health of the State. Bihar had become a textbook case of not only gross financial mismanagement but also a complete absence of governance in matters of law and order. It was not without reason that people believed there was jungle raaj in the State under the RJD regimes. Both the JD(U) and the BJP deserve credit for the turnaround. Therefore, for the Chief Minister to now position himself as the sole driving force of the good that has happened in the State and shut out the BJP's contribution, is opportunism.