*cough**cough*. The dust on this blog is giving me asthma.
Jitan Ram Manjhi joined the CM office amidst all kinds of confusion. Nitish Kumar had resigned abruptly, clinging to his "secret vachan" given to his partymen. There was news of the JDU president Sharad Yadav being miffed with Nitish. And to top it all, I had unliked Nitish Kumar’s facebook page, as I thought I had had enough of this childhood-hero turned person-like-other-politicians. Some would say this was the biggest event in the whole fiasco.
The new CM has a history with the infamous RJD, whose support JDU took before the Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, his candidature gained heavy backing easily. And thus, a virtually unknown person in Bihar politics became the CM in no time. Countless debates and discussions found place on our TVs and the internet. Everyone had a say on the topic. All that aside, this was a very important social event for the people of Bihar and India in general. Manjhi belongs to the socially depressed “Mahadalit” community or the “extremely backward class”, a term used exclusively in Bihar. Suddenly, the opposition parties in the state were on backfoot; no one directly attacked the new CM. For the first time, a representative of the lowest strata of the society was chosen for such a high political office.
But all hasn’t been very well for the Bihar CM through his short journey till now. Things seem to fall around him and what’s interesting is that there are no external factors involved. It is as if he himself goes on self-destructive mode on some days. Here is what he said this week-
“I don’t know about these sports. (Whenever) organizers call me, I go.”
This was during a National Roll Ball Championship match at Patna. Even I don’t know much about “these sports”, but at least I wouldn’t have said what he did if I were the CM. And this is just one of his recent comments.
He has earlier advised people to marry after 25, claimed to have paid bribe while being a minister, threatened to chop hands off doctors at PMCH and even reported of casteist behavior with him at a temple he visited. He has had to retract from all these statements later. His TV interviews after the Gandhi Maidan incident deserve special mention and so does his clarification about his son’s involvement in a case; after which he very famously said : “Anyone can have a girlfriend.”
And its not only his comments on random incidents that made me write this piece. Apparently, the CM is putting more focus towards garnering public support and holding to the CM post even after the state goes to polls next year, instead of focusing on work in public sector.
Do we see a pattern here? The answer should be a resounding yes. The CM was chosen for the highest office. He didn’t have to fight to the top. As plain as that. He is on his seat purely on the basis of his caste. I don’t aim to stir up the whole reservation debate here. It is just that the common man needs to review political reservations through this crucial example.
On the upside, many people of his caste may get motivated to do well in life. The morale of other backward classes may get high. But on the other hand, 10 crore people are deprived of any constructive work in the state. Also, in what way the morale of people would be boosted is questionable. Wouldn’t they just sit back and relax now, knowing that the CM and his government are going to give new freebies to them?
I am not saying Jitan Ram or people from the backward realms should never be given posts. Our PM, whose family wasn’t very affluent is a fine example of rags to riches. But instead of caste politics, we hear of development from him. There’s a difference.
In a related news, one of the grandsons of BR Ambedkar commented that it is time political reservations ended. It is indeed a vicious circle instead of a linear highway to progress.
Jitan Ram Manjhi joined the CM office amidst all kinds of confusion. Nitish Kumar had resigned abruptly, clinging to his "secret vachan" given to his partymen. There was news of the JDU president Sharad Yadav being miffed with Nitish. And to top it all, I had unliked Nitish Kumar’s facebook page, as I thought I had had enough of this childhood-hero turned person-like-other-politicians. Some would say this was the biggest event in the whole fiasco.
The new CM has a history with the infamous RJD, whose support JDU took before the Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, his candidature gained heavy backing easily. And thus, a virtually unknown person in Bihar politics became the CM in no time. Countless debates and discussions found place on our TVs and the internet. Everyone had a say on the topic. All that aside, this was a very important social event for the people of Bihar and India in general. Manjhi belongs to the socially depressed “Mahadalit” community or the “extremely backward class”, a term used exclusively in Bihar. Suddenly, the opposition parties in the state were on backfoot; no one directly attacked the new CM. For the first time, a representative of the lowest strata of the society was chosen for such a high political office.
But all hasn’t been very well for the Bihar CM through his short journey till now. Things seem to fall around him and what’s interesting is that there are no external factors involved. It is as if he himself goes on self-destructive mode on some days. Here is what he said this week-
“I don’t know about these sports. (Whenever) organizers call me, I go.”
This was during a National Roll Ball Championship match at Patna. Even I don’t know much about “these sports”, but at least I wouldn’t have said what he did if I were the CM. And this is just one of his recent comments.
He has earlier advised people to marry after 25, claimed to have paid bribe while being a minister, threatened to chop hands off doctors at PMCH and even reported of casteist behavior with him at a temple he visited. He has had to retract from all these statements later. His TV interviews after the Gandhi Maidan incident deserve special mention and so does his clarification about his son’s involvement in a case; after which he very famously said : “Anyone can have a girlfriend.”
And its not only his comments on random incidents that made me write this piece. Apparently, the CM is putting more focus towards garnering public support and holding to the CM post even after the state goes to polls next year, instead of focusing on work in public sector.
Do we see a pattern here? The answer should be a resounding yes. The CM was chosen for the highest office. He didn’t have to fight to the top. As plain as that. He is on his seat purely on the basis of his caste. I don’t aim to stir up the whole reservation debate here. It is just that the common man needs to review political reservations through this crucial example.
On the upside, many people of his caste may get motivated to do well in life. The morale of other backward classes may get high. But on the other hand, 10 crore people are deprived of any constructive work in the state. Also, in what way the morale of people would be boosted is questionable. Wouldn’t they just sit back and relax now, knowing that the CM and his government are going to give new freebies to them?
I am not saying Jitan Ram or people from the backward realms should never be given posts. Our PM, whose family wasn’t very affluent is a fine example of rags to riches. But instead of caste politics, we hear of development from him. There’s a difference.
In a related news, one of the grandsons of BR Ambedkar commented that it is time political reservations ended. It is indeed a vicious circle instead of a linear highway to progress.