History has repeated in Jharkhand in ten years. Mr Shibu Soren had voted to protect the Narasimha Rao government in 1991 and after ten years he voted for the Manmohan Singh government on the cut motion in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
And this time he did with the obvious intentions to ensure ascendance of his ambitious son Hemant in political hierarchy. The most stupid explanation offered by his aides has been; Mr Soren is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and didn’t know what he was doing. If the explanation is to be believed then Mr Soren does not deserve to be chief minister of Jharkhand. How could a person with Alzheimer’s disease do justice to the developmental issues of the state and the welfare of its people?
It is a common perception that smaller states are better governed. But this has not proven true for Jharkhand. During the 9 years and 7 months of creation of Jharkhand, the state has churned out seven governments. The present government headed by Mr Soren is the eighth government. We have seen how Mr Madhu Koda, the predecessor of Mr Soren, looted the state recklessly to the tune of Rs 5000 crore. The Speaker of the Jharkhand Assembly Mr C P Singh summed it up: “It’s unfortunate that it is almost 10 years since Jharkhand is formed. Yet there is no stable government. Coalition governments are formed and as a result there is not much attention for development. People are also upset. They are losing faith in politics. Guruji should have thought much before voting against the cut motion.” The way the governments one after another are coming and going out of office simply reinforces that the office of chief minister of Jharkhand is primarily meant for making easy money and fulfilling the demands of benefactors, not the electorate.
It is a paradox that people of this rich state, when it comes to mineral wealth, the repository of 40 per cent of the nation’s minerals, have been the poorest in the country, and far behind the citizens of Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh which were created along with it. Jharkhand is the unique example of poverty amidst plenty; a tragic case of starvation, poverty and industrial backwardness amidst nature’s unlimited bounties and blessings. And no one but the political executives are to be blamed for creation of this situation. The presence of ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, Jindal South West and Ruias of Essar has accelerated the momentum of industrialisation like never before, but the gains of this development have failed to percolate to the micro level.
Ironically Jharkhand has continuously been sliding down the growth ladder after separation from Bihar. Lack of commitment and political-economic bankruptcy of the leadership has allowed its weaknesses to grow bigger and weaken its economy. Little doubt Jharkhand needs a committed and politically motivated leadership which ironically is absent. Angry at Mr Soren’s ‘betrayal’, the coalition partner, the BJP, has decided to withdraw support to him. But as it also does not want to lose power; so it is not averse to installing of his son Mr Hemant Soren as the new chief minister. The Congress is also trying to exploit the situation and come back to power. But this is not the right panacea. The BJP and the Congress need to do some introspection: in whose interest they want to have a government with sly persons as the leaders? What is the guarantee that the new government would work with devotion to people?
