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Journalism of Courage
Nitish helped change the subject in Bihar. Now he must insulate that success from political uncertainty.
The recent eruptions of religious and caste violence in Bihar are a sobering portent. There may well be specific reasons,and particular contexts,for the flaring of tensions between communities that led to the imposition of curfew earlier this month in Nawada,for instance,and the attack on a Mahadalit group by upper caste villagers in Baddi village on Independence Day. Yet these incidents have been joined together by the same blamegame that broke out in their aftermath,with recently estranged allies-in-government,JDU and BJP,targeting each other and stoking conspiracy theories. The reality may be more worrisome than the political spectre-mongering. These outbreaks of violence have pointed to a besieged government that seems to be struggling to put itself back together again after the return of political uncertainty in the state.
The challenge for Nitish in the countdown to the Lok Sabha election and the remainder of his second term will be to reassert the authority of the state in a newly charged political climate. The Bihar chief minister cannot afford to let the forces of polarisation roll back the governments hard-won gains. The large and consequential shift in Bihars story,the reworking of the balance between identity concerns and development-centred imperatives,must be protected from any political uncertainty that assails its government.
