The politics of Bihar must move from patronage to performance

Bihar needs to make governance, not giveaways, the basis of its politics to uplift its people and catch up with other big states

- RAJESH SHUKLA

Every election season, Bihar is promised a new dawn. Each campaign paints development as its central theme, yet the state continues to rank near the bottom of India’s economic and social tables. Since Independence, politics has flourished but progress has faltered. The principal beneficiaries have been politicians, bureaucrats and those close to them. Ordinary citizens have received promises, not prosperity.

Bihar’s contradictions are striking. It is one of India’s youngest and most enterprising states. Its migrant workers build the nation’s cities, from Delhi’s construction sites to Surat’s textile mills. The money they send home powers much of eastern India’s consumption. Yet, the state’s economy remains fragile: its per capita income is barely a third of the national average, and its literacy, health and infrastructure indicators lag behind nearly every large state.

If competitive elections automatically produced accountability, Bihar would have transformed long ago. Instead, politics has become a contest over who controls resources rather than how well they are used. Grand schemes with catchy acronyms are launched every few years, but few survive beyond their announcements. Patronage, not performance, has long been the political currency.