A review on transformative leadership or political

Paradox: Critical Analysis of Nitish Kumar's Tenure as

Chief Minister of Bihar by Harsh, enrolment number –
G2022ba016.
Introduction
Kumar was born on 1st March 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, Bihar, to Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh and
Parmeshwari Devi, belonging from a very humble background where his father was an
ayurvedic practitioner, and his mother was a housewife. After graduating from Bihar College
of Engineering with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and working for the Bihar State
Electricity Board, he chose to enter politics. In his early years, Nitish Kumar was associated
with Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, S. N. Sinha, Karpuri Thakur and V. P.
Singh. In March 2000, for the first time, he was elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar.

In this report, we will try to understand the tenure of Nitish Kumar from 2010 to 2014 in the
context of Bihar as his workplace, the governmental initiatives taken him, policies, strategies
and alliances he formed, significant challenges he faced, controversies and criticisms
revolving around his electoral performance and the legacy of leadership he carries, as the
longest serving chief minister of Bihar along with the Impact of his governance on Bihar's
political landscape and society simultaneously comparing his tenure with the previous chief
ministers.

"People in Bihar do not cast their vote, but they vote their caste" sounds true but changes at
the same time, up to an extent, if the shift in the political scenario after 2005 is considered.
Keeping track of the 15 years of rule of Lalu Yadav in Bihar, based on the Muslim and Yadav
equation, political scientists such as Milan Vaishnav found it changing. In the 2010 election,
Janata Dal-United won a landslide victory, resulting from clever assimilation of development
and caste issues, which was an election strategy completely absent in Yadav politics, wrote
Vaishnav.

A brief overview of CM's tenure highlights significant reforms under several aspects. Bihar's
performance on many socio-economic indicators after 2005, when Kumar took over, is not
only better than its performance in the previous decade but also of comparable states or the
national average. Bihar's economic growth has been impressive under Kumar's tenure. The
average annual growth of Bihar's economic output was the highest among selected states. Its
performance in agriculture was second only to Madhya Pradesh. Writing before the 2010
assembly elections, economist Swaminathan Aiyar attributed the economic turnaround of
Bihar to improved law and order situation under Kumar.
The National Crime Records Bureau data shows a significant reduction in crimes such as
dacoity and robbery under Kumar's tenure. Another ASSOCHAM study released in 2013
cited public investment as an essential growth stimulus to growth in Bihar, unlike states such
as Gujarat, where private investment was the leader.

Political Context.
Nitish Kumar began his tenure with the dramatic pledge of governance, governance and
governance, he followed some of the principles given by the great men from the land of Bihar
only, ‘Kautilya’ and iterated some 2,000 years later by Adam Smith, that a secure and
peaceful environment, where economic transactions are protected by the rule of law, is
the key to robust development. In order to achieve his vision of Bihar, conventional police
force was made visible again by recruiting 20,000 constables and 2,000 sub inspectors. He set
up fast-track courts which have convicted nearly 66,000 criminals since 2006. Moreover,
according to the data published in Business Today magazine, 699 cases of corruption were
registered since 2006;but there were only 285 in the preceding 10 years. Tax revenue
growth has averaged 25 per cent in the last five years. In a highly symbolic event reported by
news agency Reuters last year, hundreds of thousands of illegal arms seized by police were
melted and turned into agricultural tools. More or less, if the views of political scientist
should be taken into account, the government performed well and good rather than the
previous “ Jungle Raaj”. Up to an extent, the change in the government in 2005, was the
complete will of the people to give a chance to someone new, who can introduce and change
the pre-existing kind of lawlessness.