As Bihar Mahagathbandhan Nears One-Year Mark, Alliance Politics Under Scrutiny

The Nitish Kumar government is based on the support of six parties in Bihar.

Now, it is interesting to see which government is more accountable to the common people.

PATNA: The Mahagathbandhan government will soon complete one year in Bihar, but a discussion is already underway whether an alliance government or a full majority government is good for the people. This question is important in view of the nine-year rule of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. This Modi government is considered as a strong government as the BJP was the single largest party in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and it formed the government with a full majority, and did not fall to the compulsion of coalition politics.

The Nitish Kumar government, on the other hand, is based on the support of six parties in Bihar. Now, it is interesting to see which government is more accountable to the common people. Shivanand Tiwari, the veteran leader and national vice president of RJD said: “When you talk about public interest in democracy, I remember the famous line Late Kashi Ram, who said that 'Mujhe Majboot Nahi Majboor government Chahiye (I do not want a strong government, need a weak government)'.”

“Practically, if we analyse, the coalition government is more people-friendly while a strong government having a full majority always looks for its vested interests. The recent development is an indication of how a coalition government is public-friendly. "One such example is Katihar firing; two persons were killed. I am not going into legalities and police investigation but the political parties like RJD, CPIML, Congress party, and other left parties immediately shouted for a fair probe.

"Similarly in teachers recruitment, the alliance partners of Mahagathbandhan are shouting for amendment in the guideline to give favours to local job aspirants of Bihar. Nitish Kumar had announced 10 lakh jobs and 10 lakh employment in Bihar. It is heading towards achieving the target with 1.7 lakh teachers recruitment and 70,000 recruitments in police and others. All these are possible due to Nitish Kumar respecting his alliance partners,” Tiwari said.

“If Nitish Kumar government would have complete majority, he may not look after public interest with such intensity and priority,” he said. When asked about whether people of the country did a mistake in 2014 when they gave complete majority to the BJP and Narendra Modi, Shivanand Tiwari said: “I am not blaming common people of the country. The situation arose in such a way that everyone was talking about coal scam, 2G scam, commonwealth game scam, etc. The CVC was responsible for the lackluster approach.

"The allegation was levelled against the Congress party but none of the scams were proven in the court. What happened to the accused of coal scam, 2G scam? It was a perception created against the ruling party followed by 10 years of anti-incumbency which gave an ideal narrative for Narendra Modi. Media also played the role of creating an atmosphere in favour of BJP and Narendra Modi.” “The consequence of the strong (Majboot) government appeared in the form of demonetization, GST and others. Where is Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people, two crore jobs per day. These all have turned into 'Jumlas' and people cannot do anything against the Narendra Modi government,” Tiwari said.

“For a strong democracy, alliance partners are required to apply pressure on the main party,” he said. Nitish Kumar will complete one-year in governance in Bihar, it has given 70,459 jobs in Bihar Police, 9469 in health, 4,325 jobs in land reforms and revenue departments, 1008 in water resource, 530 in education department 477 in animal husbandry, 183 in minority affairs department, 53 in environment an forest and 31 in the urban development ministry.

The examination of 1.70 lakh posts of teachers is coming up this month and its recruitment will be done in the next couple of months. The cabinet of Nitish Kumar government has opened 75,000 jobs in the police department and 50,000 jobs in other departments of the state government.