The crucial Bihar Assembly elections to be held in the winters will not only be watched with keen interest by the whole of country but the world is also likely to observe it with equal keenness.
A six-member delegation of the European Union visited Bihar and held extensive discussion with leaders of different political parties, NGOs and others in its pursuit to know about the alliances, ground realities and caste factor among other poll related issues besides the socio-economic conditions.
The delegation met the Bihar president of JD(U) Bashistha Narain Singh and was eager to know why the party preferred to join hands with lalu Prasad’s RJD, which is widely believed to be responsible for the lawlessness and backwardness in Bihar prior to the coming of Nitish Kumar Government. Meeting the NDA leaders, they inquired from them why they were so confident of their victory and why they depend solely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and are not declaring their CM candidate.
The EU team was led by Anne Marchal, first Counsellor, head of Political Affairs, delegation of the European Union to India and others including laure Huberty, deputy head of Mission, Embassy of luxembourg, Rachel lloyd, head of foreign policy team, British High Commission, Beatriz lorenzo, political counsellor, Embassy of Spain, Suvi Tuominen, second secretary, Embassy of Finland and Marcus Holknekt, second secretary, Political Affairs, Embassy of Sweden.
When JD(U) leader Singh said that Bihar was a lawless State ten years back, Marchal was quick to ask as to how Nitish Kumar would be able to ensure rule of law. Singh tried to convince her that Nitish was a man of integrity, proved his worth by providing good governance and worked hard to ensure a better law and order situation in Bihar and that he would not compromise on such public issues in spite of an alliance with the RJD because he has succeeded in changing the public perception about the development of Bihar. Singh also praised lalu for his unquestionable secular credentials and socialist values. “We have joined hands to stop the divisive politics of BJP and to check the division of anti-BJP votes,” he told the delegation.
The political diplomats of the EU held a round table discussion with the members of Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) and International Growth Centre (IGC), Bihar Chapter taking up issues like growth, economy and social and political developments in Bihar. ADRI member secretary Shaibal Gupta said for the last few years, many EU representatives have visited Bihar for better comprehension of growth, economy, society and political happenings the State has witnessed in recent times.