On the last day of campaigning before the Bihar elections, NDA chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar had said amid deafening applause at a rally in Patna: "Let's show these jokers that people of Bihar do care about development and would not be fooled anymore by empty promises that the Rashtriya Janata Dal has been making for the last 15 years."
With Lalu Prasad's 15-year rule in Bihar over, all eyes are on Kumar to bring the benighted state back on the road to development. Kumar is likely to set up an economic advisory council to embark upon the development and good governance project that has been his USP all through his campaign including the five-month Nyaya Yatra (march for justice) he undertook during the President rule.
The privatisation of electricity distribution in Patna is expected to gather steam with the change of guard. The state government is also likely to focus on agro-based industries during its five-year term.
The industry, however, is keeping its fingers crossed. The deterioration in the law and order situation in the state has led to investments drying up in the state.
The corporate sector made it clear that the new government will have to put its house in order before inviting investments.
"The improvement in law and order needs to be taken up urgently," said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry secretary general Amit Mitra.
Agreed Confederation of Indian Industry's chief economist, Rajiv Kumar: "All prospects of fresh investment will depend on how far the new government is able to keep up its promise to manage law and order."
Unlike Lalu Prasad, who had the political backing but no vision for the state, Kumar has a plan for Bihar. But whether he will be able to put this in place is another matter.
Lalu Prasad, during his tenure, did actually embark on power sector reforms, launch a drive against encroachment on public land in Patna, and even undertook foreign visits to drum up Non-Resident Indian investment in the state.
But he lost his nerve after the fodder scam and turned to his extended family as his saviour. Kumar's family, in contrast, has no interest in politics.
However, unlike Lalu Prasad, who ran the state under a unified command, Kumar will have to contend with the push and pulls that the ally BJP will subject him to.
This means a slower pace of drastic overhaul that the state desperately needs. Kumar's second biggest handicap will be the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, that has nothing to gain by the development of Bihar. In fact, Lalu Prasad will actively lobby with the UPA to ensure that nothing is given to Bihar, to deny Kumar the credit for success.
In the run up to the elections, Kumar had said at public meetings in Chhapra, Siwan and Gopalganj: "I promise to bring development and prosperity to the state. Industries that were shut down in the Lalu-Rabri regime will be opened. Biharis will once again be proud to call themselves Biharis and I will restore law and order in the state within three months of coming to power."
Whom he will choose as his lieutenants to do all this, is yet to be seen.
