A mud house for Mr Kumar

Soon after taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister in November 2005,Nitish Kumar had visited Kalyanbigaha.

Soon after taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister in November 2005,Nitish Kumar had visited Kalyanbigaha his native village under Harnaut block of Nalanda to seek the blessings of his badi maa,Kalbasiya. When he was a child,Nitish would spend most of his vacations at her house,next door to theirs. The 93-year-old Kalbasiya offered the kheer she had prepared to Nitish,bringing tears to the CMs eyes.

As the native son looks set to return as CM,powered by the change he has brought and the promise he holds in Bihar,Kalyanbigaha too is an altered village. It now boasts an Indian Technological School,a high school,an additional public health centre,water supply though an overhead water tank,and connecting roads. A 30 MW thermal power station and new school buildings are on their way.

As the village proudly points out,only one thing perhaps remains unchanged: Nitishs own house,to which not a single brick has been added in five years. It also remains without electricity,even as two-thirds of Kalbasiya now has power.

Sitaram,who takes care of Nitishs house in his absence,says he complained about this to the CM during his recent visit to the village. The Janata Dal U leaders reply was: Pahle Bihar banayenge,phir apna ghar dekhenge Let me first make Bihar,I can take care of my house later. Nitishs house will be the last to get power,as per his instructions.

Kalyanbigaha votes on November 9,in the fifth phase of the ongoing Assembly elections in the state. The son of Kalbasiya who died in 2007,Sitaram,is sure Nitish will win.

Sitting on a charpoy against the walls of the three-bedroom,mud-brick house which the family has been looking after for over 40 years,65-year-old Sitaram says he treasures the things Nitish has given him over the years. Nearby,Sitarams daughter-in-law applies cowdung on the floors before Diwali. But his being a popular CM is the greatest gift for me.

Nitish still visits Kalyanbigaha two-three times a year,and unfailingly on the death anniversaries of his father and wife Manju she died three years ago. Their busts have been put up at a park near the house.

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Of the 1,700 voters in the village,most are happy with their association with Nitish. The few complaints are of tardy bureaucrats.

Says Dharmavir Singh: Why only Kalyanbigaha,all of Bihar is proud of Nitish. Roads and law and order remain the best showpiece of this government. Nitish has already gone down in history as the best CM Bihar has ever had.

Even the health centre,which draws a majority of the complaints in most villages,gets a thumbs-up. Patients say they get free medicines,and medical help at all times.

While not everybody is happy with JDU candidate Harinarain Singh,who is also the state Human Resource Development Minister,that is not expected to matter in the wave for Nitish. All non-performers are hiding behind Nitishji. We will only keep Nitish in mind while casting our votes, says Rajesh Kumar.

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At Nitishs house,Sitaram lovingly points out the room where the CM was born,a box used by him to keep his gram and peanuts,and the wooden trunk lying there since the days of the CMs freedom fighter father Kaviraj Ramlakhan Singh. He also recalls how as a child,it would be Nitish who would solve any fights over gilli-danda and chika-kabaddi. Theres another story that Sitaram remembers well,often recounted by Kalbasiya. One of the games Nitish played involved him pretending to be king,as other children acting as his subjects brought him guavas as gifts. Nitish would distribute the fruits among children,saying the king should think of himself last, he says.

As it waits for him to return triumphant after these elections,Kalyanbigaha would be once again crowding around Nitish,this time bearing their list of woes. They wont find him changed,they believe.