Eight of India’s Union railway ministers have come from Bihar. It is no coincidence then that the state has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of railway projects.
The manner in which the recent railway budget has been used by Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav for political dividends, and the projects announced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (who is a former Union railway minister) to assert his party’s (the Janata Dal-United) position in Madhepura has few parallels.
Madhepura, a backward district of Bihar, is now the beneficiary of many development projects announced by both Yadav and Nitish. In 2004 Lok Sabha election, Laloo was elected from this constituency after he defeated the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav. But he resigned from there so that he could retain his favourite seat Chhapra.
The manner in which the recent railway budget has been used by Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav for political dividends, and the projects announced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (who is a former Union railway minister) to assert his party’s (the Janata Dal-United) position in Madhepura has few parallels.
Madhepura, a backward district of Bihar, is now the beneficiary of many development projects announced by both Yadav and Nitish. In 2004 Lok Sabha election, Laloo was elected from this constituency after he defeated the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav. But he resigned from there so that he could retain his favourite seat Chhapra.
While Laloo has gifted Madhepura a Rs 1,294-crore green-field electric locomotive factory, Nitish toured the district just a day before the budget and announced that a new medical college and an engineering college would be set up there. He also laid 177 foundation stones and inaugurated 299 schemes worth Rs 500 crore in the constituency. Though it was impossible for Nitish to match the budgetary allocation for the Madhepura rail project, he tried his best to convey that the state government is also keen to develop the district. Nitish and the three state ministers with him distributed loans and assets worth Rs 139 crore on a single day in Madhepura.
The Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency, often described as the ‘Yadav Vatican’, has been a fierce battleground for the two Yadav stalwarts — Laloo and Sharad Yadav. Despite being from Madhya Pradesh, Sharad wields considerable clout in the constituency. In the 1999 Lok Sabha election, Laloo was badly defeated by Sharad in Madhepura but he got his revenge by defeating him in 2004.
Thirty percent of the 12-lakh voters in the constituency are Yadavs. Incidentally, Madhepura was also home to BP Mandal — the architect of the Mandal Commission Report — who represented the constituency in 1967 and 1977. Riding on the Mandal wave, Sharad Yadav won from the constituency in 1991.
“Awarding the railway project to Madhepura is a formidable weapon in Laloo’s hand to further decimate Sharad Yadav’s support base in that backward belt. Given the nature of Madhepura’s voters, many of them do not accept Laloo’s leadership due to their closeness to BP Mandal and Sharad Yadav. Naturally, Laloo feels insecure there,” said a senior RJD leader.
Moreover, Madhepura’s electorate has, over the years, come to see railway projects as a vital source of economic well being. Madhepura was Congress stalwart LN Mishra’s pocket borough. He initiated a survey of 36 rail projects in the unified state of Bihar and established Railway Recruitment Boards at Muzaffarpur, Patna and Ranchi in the 1960s. Among Mishra’s other largesse were the Bharat Wagon Factories at Mokama and Muzaffarpur, and the expansion of the Jamalpur rail factory. Sharad also initiated many development schemes in Madhepura and implemented many Central projects including a number of railways projects.
Nitish Kumar’s popularity as former railway minister in Bihar is also fairly solid. In June 2002, he issued official notification for the creation of East Central Railway zone though it was approved in principle by then jd leader Ram Vilas Paswan in 1996. He also linked Bihar by rail with important cities of the country. Now that Laloo is at the helm in the railways, he used the railway budget to present a clutch of projects, like a wheel factory at Chhapra, a coach factory at Marhaura, sleeper factories at Sitamarhi and Madhepura, and a locomotive factory at Madhepura. These projects add up to Rs 13,500 crore.
The Madhepura electric locomotive manufacturing unit was not originally on the Rail Bhavan’s anvil, but Laloo reportedly pushed the project through the Union cabinet and succeeded in getting its approval. The Rs 1,294-crore project has evoked widespread scepticism among railway officials since the flood-prone district has no infrastructure to support a project of this magnitude.
But Laloo disagrees. “There is no politics in my development plan for Bihar. Madhepura is as good a location as any other,” Laloo told Tehelka when asked why he chose Madhepura. He dismissed suggestions that the rail project was being used to cut the JD (U) leaders down to size. Referring to Nitish Kumar’s development schemes for Madhepura, he replied, “Ask them this question. There is an answer there.”
Asked about competitive populism, Nitish welcomed the Madhepura rail project but added, “Everyone knows who is playing politics in Bihar and who is working for the state.”
But Madhepura’s people clearly see the politics at work. “There is a spurt in announcing projects for Madhepura which still lacks basic infrastructure. The leaders should also show some political will to develop Madhepura,” said AKP Yadav, a retired professor and Madhepura resident.
Former Madhepura zila parishad president Naresh Yadav said announcing huge railway projects before converting the Madhepura-Saharsa narrow-gauge rail line into broad gauge sounds too populist. “If Nitish and Laloo are so keen on Madhepura’s development,” says Babban Yadav, a rickshaw-puller, “they should first get the poor people’s names included in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list and ensure jobs for them.”
The Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency, often described as the ‘Yadav Vatican’, has been a fierce battleground for the two Yadav stalwarts — Laloo and Sharad Yadav. Despite being from Madhya Pradesh, Sharad wields considerable clout in the constituency. In the 1999 Lok Sabha election, Laloo was badly defeated by Sharad in Madhepura but he got his revenge by defeating him in 2004.
Thirty percent of the 12-lakh voters in the constituency are Yadavs. Incidentally, Madhepura was also home to BP Mandal — the architect of the Mandal Commission Report — who represented the constituency in 1967 and 1977. Riding on the Mandal wave, Sharad Yadav won from the constituency in 1991.
“Awarding the railway project to Madhepura is a formidable weapon in Laloo’s hand to further decimate Sharad Yadav’s support base in that backward belt. Given the nature of Madhepura’s voters, many of them do not accept Laloo’s leadership due to their closeness to BP Mandal and Sharad Yadav. Naturally, Laloo feels insecure there,” said a senior RJD leader.
Moreover, Madhepura’s electorate has, over the years, come to see railway projects as a vital source of economic well being. Madhepura was Congress stalwart LN Mishra’s pocket borough. He initiated a survey of 36 rail projects in the unified state of Bihar and established Railway Recruitment Boards at Muzaffarpur, Patna and Ranchi in the 1960s. Among Mishra’s other largesse were the Bharat Wagon Factories at Mokama and Muzaffarpur, and the expansion of the Jamalpur rail factory. Sharad also initiated many development schemes in Madhepura and implemented many Central projects including a number of railways projects.
Nitish Kumar’s popularity as former railway minister in Bihar is also fairly solid. In June 2002, he issued official notification for the creation of East Central Railway zone though it was approved in principle by then jd leader Ram Vilas Paswan in 1996. He also linked Bihar by rail with important cities of the country. Now that Laloo is at the helm in the railways, he used the railway budget to present a clutch of projects, like a wheel factory at Chhapra, a coach factory at Marhaura, sleeper factories at Sitamarhi and Madhepura, and a locomotive factory at Madhepura. These projects add up to Rs 13,500 crore.
The Madhepura electric locomotive manufacturing unit was not originally on the Rail Bhavan’s anvil, but Laloo reportedly pushed the project through the Union cabinet and succeeded in getting its approval. The Rs 1,294-crore project has evoked widespread scepticism among railway officials since the flood-prone district has no infrastructure to support a project of this magnitude.
But Laloo disagrees. “There is no politics in my development plan for Bihar. Madhepura is as good a location as any other,” Laloo told Tehelka when asked why he chose Madhepura. He dismissed suggestions that the rail project was being used to cut the JD (U) leaders down to size. Referring to Nitish Kumar’s development schemes for Madhepura, he replied, “Ask them this question. There is an answer there.”
Asked about competitive populism, Nitish welcomed the Madhepura rail project but added, “Everyone knows who is playing politics in Bihar and who is working for the state.”
But Madhepura’s people clearly see the politics at work. “There is a spurt in announcing projects for Madhepura which still lacks basic infrastructure. The leaders should also show some political will to develop Madhepura,” said AKP Yadav, a retired professor and Madhepura resident.
Former Madhepura zila parishad president Naresh Yadav said announcing huge railway projects before converting the Madhepura-Saharsa narrow-gauge rail line into broad gauge sounds too populist. “If Nitish and Laloo are so keen on Madhepura’s development,” says Babban Yadav, a rickshaw-puller, “they should first get the poor people’s names included in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list and ensure jobs for them.”
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