After a brief brush with some semblance of governance, it is back to the old ways in Bihar. The decision of Chief Secretary G.S. Kang to go on leave in protest against last week's transfer of 17 IPS officers by Governor Buta Singh was a crisis waiting to develop. Among the shifted officers is Ratn Sanjay, the sp of Siwan who was trying to nail Mohammed Shahabuddin, an RJD MP with a long criminal record who is close to party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Kang says there is no transparency in the transfer of officers carried out by the governor and that he was not consulted in the matter. "If the government does not need me, why should I foist myself upon it?" he asked.

In a damage control exercise on August 1, Singh drove to Kang's residence to persuade him to join duty but Kang refused. To appease Kang, Singh offered to clip the wings of his principal advisor Arun Pathak, a Lalu loyalist, and replace Home Secretary A.K. Biswas, who had upset Kang by bypassing him while issuing the transfer orders. Singh also promised to bring in former DGP of Madhya Pradesh D.C. Jugran as another adviser.

PICTURE SPEAK
ANGRY REACTION: People came out on the streets (left) against Buta Singh

The political mills started grinding after Kang's revolt. The NDA alleged that the transfers were another instance of manipulation of the state machinery by Lalu and the UPA to bolster their prospects in the coming assembly elections. NDA leaders met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and demanded the removal of Singh to end what they call Lalu's proxy rule in the state. Even Congress leaders felt Singh's actions had hurt the party's image.

The governor was summoned to Delhi by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and advised to rescind some of the most controversial transfers. The Centre also clipped Singh's wings by putting the Bihar administration under the charge of the Union Home Ministry. Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, the EC directed the Bihar Government not to shift any election-related official without its approval even though it has not yet announced the poll schedule.

INTERVIEW | LALU YADAV

"Kang is eccentric" Q. Buta Singh says people are happy under Central rule? A. Those who live in the state capital are not aware of the reality outside it. Q. The general opinion is that it is still Lalu raj in Bihar. A. The leaders who are saying so, like Ram Vilas Paswan, are the same ones who were earlier crying that Bihar needed President's rule to clear the garbage. Q. Were the recent transfers of officers done to help you in the elections? A. I don't indulge in such things. I have no role in the selection of officers. It is governor sahib's prerogative. Q. But this is the first occasion of a chief secretary revolting against a governor's decision. A. In the first place, the selection of Kang as the chief secretary was wrong. He is an eccentric officer. Q. Will the extension of President's rule hit the UPA's poll prospects? A. The extension was a constitutional requirement. Q. Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi's Nyaya Yatra is drawing good response. Do you think it reflects the people's desire for a change? A. It is not necessary that those who come to hear those leaders will vote for them.

In Parliament, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and Bihar BJP chief Sushil Kumar Modi raised the issue of the posting of pliable officers in the state to help Lalu and the UPA in the polls. The House did pass the UPA's resolution for an extension of President's rule in Bihar, but the ruling coalition was badly bruised in the debate. Patil had no answer when Kumar challenged him to reveal the names of the members of the panel which the Centre claimed had decided the transfers.

The first three months of Central rule under Singh were a period of hope. Immediately after imposition of President's rule, he directed the administration to execute all pending development works. The governor drove out Subhash and Sadhu Yadav-the powerful brothers of former chief minister Rabri Devi-and a number of other politicians from bungalows that they were illegally occupying. The long-pending demands of non-gazetted employees were addressed, though an agreement on almost all of them was reached during the RJD regime. Decisions taken by the governor brought relief to a wide section of society-students, prisoners and workers of sick PSUs which were sought to be revived.

The government also tried to improve the law and order situation and in the first three months of President's rule, about 30 hardened criminals were killed. Able officers who had been shunted to insignificant postings during the Lalu-Rabri regime were brought back to key positions. Singh even refused to meet several politicians which made RJD leaders like Vijay Krishna and Ramkripal Yadav criticise him in Parliament. The situation was turning too troublesome for Lalu and he struck back. In May, the state Government, apparently at Lalu's bidding, transferred two upright IAS officers, C.K. Anil and K.K. Pathak. While Anil was bearing down on Shahabuddin in Siwan, Pathak was turning the heat on Sadhu in Gopalganj. In another simultaneous move, Arun Pathak was appointed as adviser to the governor.

A spate of controversial transfers of officers has followed since then, culminating in the present crisis. This has strengthened the popular perception that Singh is toeing Lalu's line. The curse of politics perennially seems to overwhelm hope in Bihar.

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