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Bihar : Violence and kidnappings prior to Assembly elections

	January 31, 2005

The pre-election scene in Bihar has been marked by violent incidents and kidnapping of school children.



In the latest incident of violence, Naxalites (Left extremists) set on fire the helicopter being used for electioneering by former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu. The chopper had earlier made an emergency landing in the remote Naxal-infested area of Gaya district on January 29. Venkaiah Naidu was unhurt as local people ferried him to safety. But about a couple of hours later the Naxalites attacked the helicopter with petrol bombs and set it on fire. The pilot of the helicopter was also rescued. The BJP has charged the police with failing to provide security to either Venkaiah Naidu or the helicopter.

Another significant feature of the pre-election scene in Bihar is the spate of kidnappings of school children in Patna and other parts of the State. Patna schools were shut on several days as police failed to trace a student of DPS, Patna, Kislay who had been kidnapped a week back. Students have taken out marches in the city to protest against the lack of action by the police to trace the student and to book the culprits. Even while the police have failed so far to trace Kislay, more students have been kidnapped in different parts of the State. The kidnapping incidents have become a major election issue in the Assembly polls with the opposition BJP and Janata Dal (United) charging the Rabri Devi Government with failure to protect the students. JD(U) president George Fernandes said on January 26 that kidnappings have become a norm under the RJD rule in the state. He told reporters in New Delhi, “Kidnappings are a norm in Bihar. I am ashamed at not being able to personally take part in the students revolution since I am involved in the campaign to remove Lalu”. Students of private schools in Patna stayed away from Republic Day celebrations and are continuing their relay fast against the kidnappings.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that the Rabri Devi Government has become a hostage in the hands of criminals. Addressing election meetings in Bhagalpur he said the law and order situation in Bihar has reached a new low and the people are at the mercy of the criminals. “I am told kidnapping as an industry has been flourishing in the state. The government should be thrown out of power if lawlessness has to be stopped”.



More than 700 school children demonstrated in front of the Raj Bhawan in Patna on Friday, January 28, seeking Governor Buta Singh’s intervention for the safe release of the five students kidnapped in different parts of the state. At a meeting with government officials, the Governor directed them to take immediate steps to trace the kidnapped students and said that a proper atmosphere needs to be created so that children could go to schools safely.



The issue reverberatd in New Delhi as well. President APJ Abdul Kalam has been flooded with e-mails and petitions from students. The President’s secretary was in touch with the Bihar government officials and Kalam was being kept informed about the developments, official sources said. RJD chief Lalu Prasad, meanwhile, said the students would soon be released. Kislay Komal of DPS in Patna, Ravikant of DAV Public School in Biharsharif, Dipak Kumar of DAV Public School in Bhagalpur, Sumit Kumar of St. Paul Residential Public School in Patna, and Anjali Kumari of New St. Paul’s School in Hajipur are the five who have been kidnapped. Sumit has reportedly returned home.



On the other hand, Railway Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has accused the Opposition, particularly, the BJP and the JD(U) of playing politics by highlighting the kidnapping incidents. Chief Minister Rabri Devi said that her government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the students return safely to their families. “I am a mother first and a Chief Minister later. I consider the children of Bihar as my own. I am with the school children and the victims’ families. My government is not a mute spectator. It’s making its best efforts to secure the children and catch their tormentors who have given Bihar a bad name”, she said. Linking the declining law and order situation with electoral politics, Rabri recalled similar incidents in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and during President Abdul Kalam’s visit. This time though, she alleged, the RJD’s rivals and detractors “also want to impede development” as illustrated by the kidnapping some weeks ago of NHPC engineers. “Our rivals are rattled. This is because, being in power in the state and at the Centre, we can now achieve the kind of development the people of Bihar deserve, but which we never got during the BJP-JD(U) rule in New Delhi.



The first phase of Assembly elections in Bihar is on February 3. Observers say, the crucial question before the voters is whether they should give another five year term to Lalu Prasad’s RJD. The voters are also confused because of so called friendly fights between constituents of the UPA which is ruling at the Centre. All political parties including the congress have promised to improve the law and order situation in their manifestoes. But how far they will be able to keep their promises and how much the voters trust them remains to be seen.

Observers say that kidnappings have become almost an industry in Bihar. More than 32,000 cases of kidnapping have been reported in the state between 1992 and September 2004. About 20 per cent of the kidnappings were for ransom.



Pre-poll survey

If one is to go by surveys another one had predicted a hung assembly in Bihar, with king maker’s role for the Congress and the Lok Janshakti Party after the elections. According to the poll survey conducted by Zee News and C Voter the two parties are expected to win between 37 and 43 seats, while the RJD and the Left parties are likely to get between 98 and 104 seats. The BJP and the JD(U) are expected to get between 77 and 83 seats, while other parties are likely to win between 19 and 25 seats.

According to the survey, the Congress-LJP alliance will have a major role to play in formation of the next Government in Bihar, with no party or formation getting a clear-cut majority on its own. The survey also predicted a dent in the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad’s hold on the Yadav, Muslim and Dalit vote bank.

Of the 81 seats in Jharkhand, the survey has predicted a comfortable victory for the Congress-JMM combine. The two parties together are expected to win between 42 and 48 seats, the BJP alliance between 17 and 23 seats, the RJD and the Left parties between 3 and 9 seats and others between 7 and 13 seats.

The survey predicts a comfortable win for the Congress in Haryana with the party poised to win between 59 and 65 seats in the 90-member Assembly. It has also predicted a rout for the ruling Indian National Lok Dal with the party slated to get about 15 seats and the BJP 13.



Haryana scenario

Reports from Haryana say that the ruling INLD is facing a strong anti-incumbency factor in the state. The Jat voters appear to be shifting their support and INLD may no longer get their backing in the coming elections. Observers say, a majority of people belonging to the Jat community are in favour of a change in the regime. But it is largely felt that the Congress would win not on positive vote but on an anti-Chautala vote.



Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to Attorney General Milan Bannerjee asking for the government’s response to the petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties demanding that the electorate must have the right to cast a negative vote. This will enable the voters to say that none of the candidates in the fray deserves his vote. The Election Commission has supported the petition.