Bihar Elections 2010: Development or Caste Equation?
This one is going to be a political post given my home state has just seen one of the momentous events that democracy could provide. Bihar Elections 2010 have culminated on an expected “unexpected” note. The conduct of the elections were “uneventful” (the term is used with reference to the yesterdays of rampant violence and booth capturing). This was expected given that Election Commission had deployed para-military forces at all the booths (with local police left to patrol thereby reducing their interference). EVM use further made the rigging impossible and results were swiftly declared to the public ( incld on the web ) preventing any post polls manipulations. Nitish Kumar returned to power. This was expected. “Unexpected” was Nitish Kumar and BJP sweeping 206 seats out of 243 (political pundits were predicting 170 seats for JDU alliance). This has not only left them stunned but even the NDA alliance is coming to terms with the verdict with disbelief in their eyes! RJD had come...