By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal

Bihar elections have become a sort of cruel joke on people. Among the poll promises of jobs that aren’t there, the development that never happened, and the free vaccines that probably won’t come whichever party or alliance comes to power. The elections won’t change anything for the people of Bihar if Nitish Kumar leaves or stays and it is a simple reality that everyone is aware of in the state.

Bihar is an ideal example of a case where everything goes wrong in a democracy. Socrates considered voting an art where voters have to be made aware of the choices and responsibilities in a democracy. With low literacy rates and a society deeply divided on caste and religion, it’s no wonder the state never developed despite being rich in natural resources. Political parties are also equally responsible for this development gap. How Tejaswi Yadav or Nitish Kumar will generate lakhs of jobs when they cannot fill existing ones. In Bihar sometimes government job exams get delayed, sometimes exam happen on time but results get delayed and sometimes both happen on time and the joining of candidates gets delayed. Basic necessities such as roads, water, and electricity connection are missing in numerous villages and rural areas.

We are talking about free vaccines to be distributed in a state where migrants were made to walk for thousands of kilometers in blistering Sun and railways was charging ticket fees from these migrants who were rendered jobless and homeless in the lockdown a few months ago. The other alliance of Congress, RJD, and Left parties are no different. There is fear that crime will shoot up through the roof if this group comes to power. The days when People disappeared or got kidnapped while traveling from one place to another may come back and the fear is not entirely unfounded. As per Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, 31% of the analyzed candidates have some kind of criminal case registered against them and 23% have serious criminal cases against them. RJD has the highest share of candidates with criminal cases.

With such kind of lawmakers just imagine the law and order situation in the state. Do you think they will be concerned about floods or the absence of necessary infrastructure or the unemployment rate in the state?

The poor, the middle class, and the rich in Bihar often prefer to move out of the state. People have already given up on any hope for change, it didn’t happen in previous elections, it’s not going to happen now and there’s nothing we can about it.