This is a tale of two Modis. They are going to be key actors in shaping the body politics of Bihar and our country in coming days. Not so long ago they appeared to be drifting quite apart only to be brought together due to change in direction of the wind. Now the both seem to have hitched on to each other, and set sail together to shape the unfolding political scenarios.

Even the staunchest opponents of Namo now concede that the people power is propelling the most celebrated ‘Modi’ to pole position in pecking order for position of Prime Minister. Harbinger of change are all too evident. Independent candidates and party hoppers action seem to be conveying this undercurrent. The bureaucracy has also sensed this change in air, more so the people who have ‘Ears’ to the happenings in this country, to fashion its response accordingly. Not to be left behind, even the political parties, away from the political nerve center, have started sensing these changes and started calibrating their positions accordingly. Analyst and Pshephologist will soon realize that mandates are not only about arithmetic, as they have often been making out till now, but also about inorganic cascading of groundswell of support. Those who are still talking of BJP not reaching the magical number of 272+ may very well be forced to retrain their ‘forecast models’ in light of actual outcome .

However, more surprising is the way Nitish has lost the plot of maintaining his grip over the affairs of Bihar. In a “Jungle Raj Returns” rerun, Bihar seems to be back to its dark days once again.  He appears to be hurtling down to end up as an unmitigated disaster post his divorce with BJP.  His predicament can be described as ‘Maya Mili Na Ram’.  But then people who betray peoples mandate in a democracy are sure to end up loser. One would have envied the historic opportunity which has landed up at the doorstep of Nitish Kumar. It has all the trappings of transforming him into a historic personality, a Yug Purush’. He could have done well to focus on, what he considered to be smaller things for his outgrown stature, rebuilding Bihar, leaving out the more exalted job of saving Secularism, Palestine, Subsaharn Africa, fighting American Imperialism or even saving India from ‘evil onslaught’ of  BJP  to his equally talented comrade in arm Lalu Prasad Yadav. I do not understand when these politicians form Bihar will realize that state needs their services first and foremost, even if they do not accept their limitations in curing ills of India, if not world.   Quite often they even do not measure up to the task of rebuilding Bihar. To compound Nitish’s follies, he even misread ‘time and tide’ which everyone else could very well sense. “Vinash Kale Viprit Budhdhi”, that is how people call it. Consequently his act has also opened up a window of opportunity for another Modi, that is, SuMo. I will only hope that at least this more grounded Modi would realize that there are other people to take care of India, or for that matter world affairs, and dedicate him to serve people of Bihar till Bihar attains the same level on developmental indices as ,say, top five other states.

No doubt, in loss of Vajpayee, India lost a golden opportunity to progress fast and has consequently lost a number of years in developmental journey. Manmohan Singh has brought this country’s economy to its knees and correcting it again will require at least three years, post he demits the office. Country has effectively lost 10 years of its development journey providing for three year of lag effect both ways. However, Bihar is not likely to be any worse off.  Nitish, unlike his ilk in JDU, for all his blemishes would not be as bad for development of Bihar. At worst,  Bihar is only likely to lose out on acceleration but not significantly on speed beyond what was any way unavoidable given the woes of wider economy.  However, days in office of both these protagonist Manmohan and Nitish seems to be fast running out. It is time now to prepare to welcome the promising Modi duo, one for India another for Bihar. So, shall we say “ Make Way for Modis”.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this report are purely those of the author and may not in any circumstances be regarded as the official view of BiharTimes.