There are still many gaps and it will take years before tangible results are visible. Yet, the discourse on development and its social or political matrix has changed in the state. The prophets of doom, quick to write Bihar’s epitaphs earlier, are now revising their script.

The two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ or introspection session organised by the RJD at Ramgarh in Kaimur district of Bihar last week, must be seen in this backdrop. It is no coincidence that the RJD supremo opted for this district for this exercise in collective reflection. Possibly this was the only district where some semblance of governance was visible even during the RJD reign. In contrast to the rout of RJD all over the state in 2005, the party swept Kaimur district.

Lalu Prasad Yadav spent nearly two full days with his political associates at the chintan shivir, indicating his efforts to reinvent himself. Apart from his rhetoric against the NDA government in Bihar on expected lines, the conclave was marked by the absence of his characteristic swagger.

With a functioning state in Bihar, the terms of social mobilisation are changing. With the eclipse of ideology since the JP movement, the building of party structures and nurturing of cadres were given up. Dialogue and debate within the party, which lead to a sense of ownership in the cadre, had become things of the past. The co-option of criminals or criminal gangs in lieu of building the party structure became the hallmark of all mainstream political parties in the state.

... contd.