Ruined in Ranchi

Jharkhand was such a wonderful promise. Fresh polls now are the only hope for a new beginning

Whichever way the latest crisis goes in Jharkhand, the dream of a new beginning in a new state has wilted young. The infant state in November 2000 looked so very good on paper. It was flush with minerals 8212; ranking first in India in iron ore, third in coal, first in copper ore, first in mica, third in bauxite, and that list carries on. It was dotted with an enviable

number of the country8217;s busiest industrial centres. It had vast forest resources. So why wouldn8217;t Jharkhand grow up to be one of the most vibrant, most prosperous states of India? Why would its people not benefit from its terrific natural endowments, now that they finally had won the state they had fought for? Six years on, as an entrepreneurial group of independent legislators attempts to pull down the government in Ranchi after helping to install it amid similarly sordid circumstances just 18 months ago, those are rhetorical questions.

This should have been the time for Jharkhand to be making news for its government8217;s initiatives to woo investment in steel, power, agro-industry, in healthy competition with other states. The government should have been firming up creative private-public partnerships to build vital infrastructure still lacking in the state. It should not be making headlines for serious infighting in the ruling party, or corruption, or chronic instability. Or for becoming the new stronghold of Naxalites, along with that other new state of Chhattisgarh, having pushed back Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Or for turning away super-rich steel barons who come looking to invest in the state. Laxmi Mittal8217;s relocation to Orissa, not long after he committed to making Jharkhand the site of his maiden venture in India, surely makes a larger point.

Jharkhand has been let down by its political leaders and the bigger parties have been equally to blame. Whether he belongs to the Congress or the BJP, or the JMM, the politician has acted with the same irresponsibility and short-sightedness in Jharkhand. It will be a fitting travesty, perhaps, if the state witnesses the farce of a government of, for and by independent MLAs. If the state is to be rescued, however, there is no alternative to going back to the people.