Bihar Assembly election | Nitish Kumar is no longer the poster boy for Mahadalits
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‘We were promised land, now we even have to silently bury our dead,’ they are saying
There is deep cynicism amongst the Rishidev group, one among the 21 Mahadalit castes in Bihar, with village after village echoing the identical hopelessness that nothing is going to vary for them no matter who involves energy.
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The Mahadalit was a division created by Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2007, his first time period, carving out a constituency for himself in the deeply caste-driven society of Bihar. The group has steadily remained with Mr. Kumar in the Assembly elections.
Thirteen years on, Khakri Devi in Thari Khanva village, in Rupauli Assembly constituency round 50 km away from Purnia city, requested, “Naam oh Mahadalit hai, ki mila che? (We just have the tag of Mahadalit, what did we get)”.
One query is sufficient to open a floodgate of complaints, with a bunch of girls and previous males all making an attempt to talk at the identical time. “Doosri baar jeeta toh bola tha 3 dismil zamin dega, abhi toh koi mar jaaye toh lash ko gaadne ka zamin nahi hai, raat ko chura ke gaadna padta hai. (Second time he was elected, we have been promised 3-dismil (1306.8 sq. toes) land and now we don’t even have land to bury our lifeless, now we have to silently bury them at night time). The battle is largely with Muslim landowners in the space.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressing a ‘Maha Dalit Ekjutata rally’ at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. File photograph
| Photo Credit: Ranjeet Kumar
Lack of labor
There are no youthful males in the villages, majority of them have gone to work in the fields of Punjab as there is little work to return by right here. The bus fare to journey to Punjab is ₹3,000 which a lot of them borrow at an rate of interest of 10%. Soon after the journey restrictions have been lifted many have returned to their locations of labor. “If there were factories here, why would we need to go to Punjab,” Phoolchand Rishi stated.
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In Dhokva village in Damdaha Assembly constituency, Samuri Devi is clear, “Abki baar kisko vote nahi denge,” (This time I will not forged my vote) she declares. Women huddle round, complaining loudly. “We don’t have school, panchayat bhavan, ration cards or roads. We have got nothing from the government.”
Here the single lane concrete street ends the place the village begins. There are no pucca or brick homes, only a assortment of straw hats. There are no avenue lights, no tv units at their houses and even the Swachch Bharat bathrooms. Most of the youngsters are strolling round barefoot and just a few have garments on their backs
Among the litany of complaints, the major plea is “koi sunwai nahi hoti” (No one listens to us). Most of them are each day wagers who get work for lower than 10 days in a month. Public Distribution System protection is scanty, some in the village have managed to get a BPL card however most aren’t coated beneath the National Food Security Act. Hearing the debate about the ration playing cards, Chini Devi rushed to her dwelling to convey a group of well-preserved long-expired ration playing cards. “Hamare paas sab purja hai (I have all the papers),” she says, however laments that for years now she has not obtained ration.
Corruption in paperwork
There is uniformity of complaints about largescale corruption in paperwork. Dinesh Rishi is keen to indicate scraps of papers to anybody who is keen to listen to about how the authorities owed him ₹1.5 lakh beneath the Indira Awas Yojana, however ₹30,000 out of this sum is lacking and all he is left with is a half-finished home.
All the individuals talked about right here had voted for the JD (U) in the 2015 elections. Both Damdaha and Rupauli constituencies are with the JD(U) constituency. They stay silent about their selection in the coming 2020 Assembly elections. “Right now the campaign has not started, we will see,” Virendra Rishi stated.
Though they’re disenchanted with Mr. Kumar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is not an possibility, they are saying, just because the 15 years of the RJD authorities had meant additional marginalisation for them. Now, they will brazenly lament, however again then, they recall they didn’t have the proper to even complain. The inventory reply is that they are going to vote for the “winning candidate” and this might be selected the eve of polling, relying on the “mahaul” (environment). Mr. Kumar is no longer their poster boy, who gave them particular standing and a voice.
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