Opinion For law and order in Bihar, the NDA must answer now

Men with guns stride into a high-profile hospital in the capital city of Patna, fire at their target, a convicted criminal on parole, and leave. The latest instance of murder in Bihar — one among several in recent days and weeks — is a chilling tableau caught on CCTV. The case will be investigated in days to come, and the law will hopefully take its course. But its impact could be far wider. In a state headed to assembly polls, where “law and order” has been a polarising concern that overshadowed other issues in the past, the murder in the hospital is likely to be replayed and revisited in the campaign to come — with one difference. This time, the BJP-JD(U) will be at the receiving end, and the RJD, for long years accused of presiding over “jungle raj” when it ruled the state, will play the indignant and outraged party. In the last instance, however, the political crossfire, or the role reversal, is not the main story. It is, instead, this: In a state in which, over the last two decades, the subject has slowly and painstakingly changed from the state’s capacity to perform its most basic functions, uphold the rule of law, to how it faces the many challenges of governance and development, the possible return of “law and order” as a trumping concern is a disheartening backsliding.

When Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005, there had been a long process of de-institutionalisation under Lalu Prasad. While Lalu had become the symbol of backward-caste empowerment, and while his politics helped shape an upsurge from below of under-represented constituencies, he also contributed to a pessimistic opposition taking hold — “samajik nyaya (social justice)” was painted as unconnected to, almost antagonistic with, development or “vikas”. This disregard for the quality of governance in a state that had many steep mountains to climb on the development front had taken a toll, especially on law and order. One of Nitish’s first and most resonant successes, therefore, lay in curbing lawlessness. In fact, all the other more fluctuating achievements of the Nitish government in its various avatars were built on the foundations laid during 2005-2010 on this front. From renovating the government school to reviving the health centre, from the schoolgirl on a cycle provided by the government so that she doesn’t drop out to the woman making her own way in the self-help group — it all became possible once the fundamental assurance of the safety and security of citizens began to be taken for granted.

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Neither the JD(U) nor the BJP, partners in the ruling alliance, can afford to turn their back on the return of insecurities on the law-and-order front. Both must know that much more than an election is at stake. The Nitish Kumar government, whether or not it comes back to power, has a legacy to protect. It must ensure that the state builds on its hard-won gains, and that there is no going back to the past.