|
Calculated Showmanship
The gala
Jharkhand anniversary celebrations project the chief minister as a "Vikas
Purush", diverting attention from his many critics. India Today's Farzand
Ahmed reports.
A
leader's personality always depends on his showmanship and his ability
to impress the masses and mentors alike. On November 15, an ever-smiling
Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi successfully exploited this facet
to win the hearts of not only the people who thronged Morhabadi ground
in Ranchi but also to influence the cool and calculated Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani.
It was worth the effort. Advani was acutually impressed. "The Marandi
Government is functioning quite well. In certain spheres like road and
education it's really very good," he declared. The day was the second
Foundation Day of Jharkhand coinciding with the birth anniversary of `Bhagwan
Birsa Munda, the icon of the state. And Marandi, using the resources of
the surplus state and the BJP's network, turned the show into a big "event",
a festival of colour, lights and music in the presence of a galaxy of
central ministers like Yashwant Sinha, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav, Karia
Munda and Rita Verma. In the process his Government forgot that many parts
of the state were recently declared drought-hit.
Problems such as these took a backseat as overnight, a 10-km long by-pass
road between the airport and Raj Bhavan was constructed and a four-lane
6-km-long circular road around the ground was laid. The Jharkhand State
Electricity Board lit up the entire area in no time. A grand Udyog Mela
with 300-odd stalls of giant private and dying public sectors undertakings
sprang up under the aegis of the Chhotnagpur Small Scale Industries Association
to showcase the brighter side of Jharkhand.
That was not all. Online, Advani also laid the foundation of a new capital
called "Greater Ranchi" at Sukurhuttu, a rocky spot hurriedly
located and finalised by the chief minister and his team of officials.
He also laid the foundation of a new Ranchi University campus annced about
Marandi being on the "right track" of development, it was hardly
surprising that the chief minister emerged as a "Vikas Purush".
In fact, part of the show was designed to let others know how his Government
was able to "create a new confidence and sense of involvement among
the people of this state" in the past two years. "We spent the
first year putting the skates on. In the second year, we laid the foundation
of development and in the next eight years, Jharkhand will emerge as a
model state in the country," he vowed.
Not all of it was an empty boast. In two years, despite having inherited
a region in a shambles and putting up with the lack of cooperation from
some ministers, his Government managed to electrify 800 villages. Out
of 32,000 villages in the state, hardly 5,000 had been provided power
in the past 50 years under the Bihar Government.
Similarly, in 24 months, 2,500 km of roads were added at a breakneck speed
to a total of 46,000 km of dilapidated roads in the state. A unique scheme
aimed at breaking the monopoly of the big transporters and the mafia has
also been a big draw, generating employment among the youth. The report
card also talks of the introduction of a uniform CBSE course, free distribution
of textbooks and setting the academic calendar right. Besides, the Ranchi-based
Rajendra Medical College Hospital was upgraded along the lines of the
All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
Finding that illiteracy was a major drawback, the Government introduced
the Gram Shiksha Yojana in villages where there were no schools. Under
the scheme, available educated people were asked to organise classes on
their own premises and paid accordingly. So far, 8,700 such schools are
functional.
To fight corruption, another stumbling block to development, the Government
has given a "free hand" to the Vigilance Department to crack
down on erring bureaucrats and ministers. Director-General of Vigilance
Shivaji Kaire claims the anti-corruption drive has already started paying
dividends as 103 have been netted.
While these developments have made the BJP effusive, especially in the
wake of the recent debacle in the Dumka Lok Sabha by-elections, the trouble
ahead in the Godda Lok Sabha by-elections and the party's dwindling fortunes
at the national level, there are some sections which have remained untouched.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by Shibu Soren, organised a Jharkhand
Bachao Rally in Godda while the All Jharkhand Students Union staged a
dharna demanding "Hisab Do, Hissa Do, Nahi To Gaddi Chor Do".
A section of the Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United) too held parallel
functions in Olihatu to protest against attempts by Marandi and BJP to
hijack the show and take full credit for it. The CPI (ML), on its part
too, organised functionsto expose what it called rampant corruption in
Jharkhand. Even scholar Dr Ramdayal Munda who heads the Jharkhand Vikas
Dal led a dharna in Ranchi to protest against the lavish show. "It's
a sham," he said. "This gala function organised at the cost
of the public exchequer was to fool the people and cover up the Government's
misdeeds".
In a similar strain, Bimal Kashyap, leader of the All Jharkhand Students
Union, who remained underground during the movement, said, "Marandi
can't understand the sentiment of the people as he himself was never involved
in the Jharkhand movement". The Jharkhand People's Party, an umbrella
political outfit of students' organisations, also went ahead with its
plan to observe a "Black Day" on November 15. JPP leaders have
sought an appointment with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to present a "white
paper" on the "misdeeds" of the Marandi government. But
Marandi is unruffled. As far as he is concerned, it was time to bask in
the success of his show. The criticism could wait—for the moment
at least.
|
|
|
|
|
