On 28th August, finally, the Apex court rejected a petition seeking deterrence to the Vidhan Sabha elections scheduled to be held this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The court observed that Covid-19 could not be a ground to stop elections. However, asked the election commission to take all the necessary precautions and consider everything. The elections are scheduled to take place by November' 2020. Let us learn what could be the possible yes or no's behind the processing of elections.
Why Bihar Elections 2020 shouldn't take place?
1. Corona Hotspot: Bihar is one of the hotspots of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. It had the sixth-largest active cases to the lowest testing ratio in the country. It has conducted 7,917 tests per 10 lakh people against the national average of 18,086. At 14.7 days. In a report by Lancet daily, Bihar is one of the most vulnerable Indian states to hit by pandemic as eight of the twenty districts mentioned was from Bihar.
2. Flood: This topic is nothing new for Bihar. The public is accustomed to not once or twice the occurrence of floods in a year. The point is Nitish Kumar has equally failed in this matter compared to RJD's regime during his 15 years of tenure. As per the Disaster Management Department, this year's deluge has swamped 1,232 panchayats across 16 districts of the state. At least 23 people have been reported dead in flood-related incidents. Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur were among the worst-hit districts with a combined affected population of 34 lakh. The Opposition has made flood an election issue.
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3. Migration: Out- Migration of dynamic labour force from Bihar are working in most of the developing cities of the country -- from Ladakh to Kerala and Manipur to Gujarat. Policymakers have also pointed out that the lack of industrialisation and economic growth in the state has forced each stratum of people to move out of the state.
The hard work of these migrants increases the GDP of other states, but Bihar itself is failing miserably. Bihar is the second most populated state with the highest density population in the country and lowest employment ratio, this is a cry for help. If not, the government can help, then where will these people go. When lockdown started this year, these migrant labourers working in the developing cities of the country started returning homes, UP did welcome them and promised to provide with opportunities of employment, but again Bihar failed to ensure that.
Other Reasons:
Law and Order: A topic that Bihar is utterly famous for. This had been the selling point of Nitish Government, but now that it is the same situation after 2005 as mentioned by several political observers, Bihar is again at point zero. The same looting of Banks, robberies in broad daylight, murders, shooting etc. and the list goes on. Who is answerable for this? That is nobody because the administration doesn't want to. The common public cannot question and more to it, they are accustomed to fearful living. When already public is adjusted, why does the administration has to take a toll on it?
Unemployment: Next, as per the data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in June 2020, Bihar had double the unemployment rate to the national unemployment. As obvious due to the large inflow of migrants from other states who returned home after losing their jobs and others because of shut down of businesses in the state. Earlier, another CMIE report said Bihar's unemployment rate increased 31.2 percentage points in April 2020 -- rising up to 46.6 percent. Now that when these migrant labourers have returned home, they want to stay back in the state for which they need employment, but lack of industrial interface will force them to return again. Can this election change this? Could contesting parties answer this? Never, it is a prolonged silence, and which will always, be remained at the same status quo.
Conclusion
Considering the present situation and uproot for elections, a state like Bihar and their public have not much to say. People who are without food, clothing, and earning might see this as an opportunity to fill their family's stomachs. Parties in the roar of elections distribute food, money, and obvious to mention banned liquor to the poor people in exchange of votes and so the reality. A simple and dynamic natured public who travels 1000s of a kilometre away from family, only to take care of their basic needs, can you think ever that they can turn exploitive of the resources if they have. Bihar needs industries, growth, jobs, better administration, and little sincerity from the Union government to not forget their existence in the country. Bihar Elections will happen, only the point is let us make it happen for employed and safe Bihar.