East: Year ender 2011

Nitish Kumar: New mascot of development

Riding the wave of development, Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP coalition stormed back to Patna’s power centre with an overwhelming majority. Remember, Bihar was at crossroads when Nitish took over the reins of the improvised state five years back? He promised a naya Bihar and the state has surely changed for the better. Coupled with a drastic improvement in law and order situation -- kidnapping is no more an industry in Bihar and jails are not comfort zone for criminals -- massive investments in creating infrastructure has ensured an upward swing in the state’s economy, making it the fastest growing one in India.

The mechanical engineer in Nitish Kumar also did dabble in social engineering. By forming a new social group called ‘Maha Dalits’, he tried to bring into the fold all those classes and subclasses which had been hitherto left behind during the first wave of social change. Nitish Kumar has awakened the Bihari sub-nationalism and the Bihari asimta by providing good and clean governance.

But with this consecutive victory of his coalition has come the rising burden of expectations of people. Only time will tell, whether Nitish Kumar can meet those aspirations.

Humanitarian crisis in Manipur

The year 2010 saw Manipur cut off from the rest of India for 70-long-days because of the blockade by Naga groups. The bandh was called by All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) and the United Naga Council (UNC) to protest against Manipur government`s decision to hold elections in the tribal dominated hill districts. The blockade gathered further fuel when the state government refused entry to Thuingaleng Muivah, a Naga rebel leader and general secretary of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). The blockade was the second in recent times. In 2005, a similar blockade called by Nagas continued for 50-long days.

The relentless seize by separatist outfits and indefinite curfew imposed by government crippled Manipur and threw daily life completely out of gear. The price of essential commodities shot up. Life-saving drugs ran into short supply. Surgeries at hospitals were suspended due to non-availability of oxygen cylinders. Manipur was on the brink of a severe humanitarian crisis.

The situation worsened due to the decision of the Transporters` and Drivers` Council, Manipur that they would not ply trucks/public carriers/oil tankers/buses and any public vehicles on NH-39 passing through the State of Nagaland, unless their pre-conditions were met.

The unrest in Manipur continued unabated as the Centre failed to break the impasse. The Government sent in troops to end the standoff a tad too late. On the same day the Naga separatists suspended the blockade.

A triumph of humans and nature

The year 2010 turned out to be a green year for Odisha, newly named so. The state saw the cancellation of two proposed mega projects -- $1.7 billion bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri and $3.5 billion university project on the Puri-Konark marine drive. Both the projects belong to the London listed Vedanta group, were nixed on grounds of serious violation of law.

Environment ministry cancelled the Niyamgiri project following the NC Saxena Committee terming it illegal. The Committee in its report stated that Vedanta had flagrantly violated environmental and forest laws in active collusion with the state officials. The proposed project could hit the rights of two of the most endangered primitive tribal groups -- Dongria Kondh and Kutia Kondh.

In a second setback to Vedanta, Orissa High Court quashed the process of acquisition of 6,000 acre of agricultural land -- which includes 1,300 acre of arable land belonging to the Jagannath Temple -- for the Vedanta university project. The court made it clear that state government’s notifications made to award the land for the university project “illegal” and “bad in the eye of law”. The proposed project could hit at least 50,000 people across 22 villages of Puri district who depend primarily on agriculture. The project would have an extreme impact on eco-system.

The fate of Rs 54,000 crore POSCO project -- which happens to be the largest Foreign Direct Investment of the country -- hangs in balance on similar grounds. The majority view in Environment Ministry proposed for the cancellation of the project.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and his BJD are battling the allegations of selling the state’s riches to private firms at the cost of livelihood of the people. The Opposition knives are out with ugly scenes occurring in the state assembly recently. A Congress lawmaker climbed onto the Speaker’s podium and lay down on it during an agitation in the well of the House.

Political instability in Jharkhand

JMM and BJP together formed the government following the hung Assembly that the election results threw up as the year 2009 came to a close. But in a stunning political twist, Shibu Soren-led JMM voted for UPA in the cut motion in Parliament on price rise in April. Political instability was the price that Jharkhand then paid as BJP withdrew its support from the state government.

In September, Nitin Gadkari-led BJP inked a fresh power-sharing deal with JMM, brushing aside the resentment expressed by a section of party top brass. JMM, BJP and AJSU came together and formed the new government under Arjun Munda. But how long the ‘rainbow coalition’ will last remains a question.

-- As it appeared in the yearender 2011 coverage of Zeeonline