Manmohan Singh's Unrequited Generosity: The Rise and Irony of Nitish Kumar |
Listen to this article:
It’s difficult to assess whether Nitish Kumar retains full coherence in his thoughts and actions, given his prolonged avoidance of media interactions amid widespread speculation on his health, citing his public behaviour.
Yet the one leader who truly owes a debt of gratitude to the late former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh – for shaping his image as “Sushasan Babu (the man of good governance)” and “Vikas Purush (the man of development)” – is none other than the Bihar chief minister himself.
What stands out is Manmohan Singh’s remarkable generosity and foresight toward Bihar, even though Nitish headed a Bharatiya Janata Party-backed government that often sharply criticised the country’s first Sikh prime minister – an economist widely respected globally for his erudition, scholarship, and integrity.
Nitish assumed office as Bihar’s chief minister in November 2005, more than a year after the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (with Congress at the helm) replaced the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre in May 2004.
The UPA secured re-election in 2009 and governed for a full decade – a period that, ironically, coincided with Nitish’s rise as a symbol of development and good governance.
Had Manmohan Singh adopted the partisan approach toward non-Congress-ruled states that the Narendra Modi-led government has displayed toward states like West Bengal, Kerala, or Tamil Nadu, Nitish might have faced severe political and administrative challenges.
Singh’s largesse
Instead of withholding support from the BJP-backed government in Bihar, Manmohan Singh extended substantial assistance. Under the UPA, the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) – launched to address regional........