CM completes one month

Sachchidanand Jha / TNN / Dec 24, 2005, 03:05 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

Nitish Kumar has given a fair hint that he wants to build a consensus for putting Bihar back on development track.

PATNA: In his first month in office, chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has given a fair hint that he wants to build a consensus for putting Bihar back on development track.
His willingness to reverse some of his decisions when eyebrows were raised at them has come as a breeze of fresh air and speaks volumes about Nitish's style of functioning.
Here is a CM who is not only willing to learn from his mistakes but also believes in rectifying them. He has also kept his family members and other relatives away from the corridors of the secretariat so far.
On November 24, the day he took over as CM, Nitish forced junior minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had been sworn in the same day, to resign from his post when it was pointed out to him that Manjhi was allegedly involved in the private B Ed college affiliation scam during the RJD regime.

He also reversed the posting of a controversial IAS officer, S M Raju, on December 20 when he came to know that the officer had a tainted background.
Raju, who was earlier appointed as IG of prisons, has now been posted in the personnel department though an accused in a land scam (now in Jharkhand), S S Verma, has been appointed as urban development secretary.
Nitish's statement that the NDA government would not take repressive steps against extremists though it would like them to shun violence makes it abundantly clear that he has the makings of a statesman as it clearly spelt his government's policy vis-a-vis extremists, particularly CPI(Maoist) members who had attacked several government establishments at Madhuban in East Champaran district in June and the Jehanabad sub-jail on November 13. "It is not state vs extremists," he says.

Nitish recently held talks with members of the Bihar Chamber of Commerce (BCC) on value added tax (VAT) and other issues, including law and order, concerning the business community.
The NDA government would develop infrastructure besides extending all possible facilities to entrepreneurs willing to invest in Bihar, Nitish told them. He will also attend an NRI meet in Hyderabad in January.
While claiming that the biggest achievement of his one-month-old government was to rid the people of an atmosphere of terror witnessed during the RJD regime, Nitish said his government believes in taking solid and well-thought-out steps ("sadhe kadam") to ensure that the state administration functions unhindered.
His agriculture minister Narendra Singh recently addressed a meeting on agriculture organised by the Bihar Industries Association.
And true to his words that the government would give full freedom to the police in their functioning, neither Nitish nor any of his cabinet colleagues has tried to interfere with the police functioning.
He did not mince words in expressing his unhappiness when one of his senior cabinet colleagues, Narendra Singh, had a tiff with an executive magistrate early this month during the winter session of the state legislature.
And yes, Nitish has refrained from playing to the gallery by launching a broadside at the drop of a hat against RJD chief and railway minister Lalu Prasad and former CM Rabri Devi.
He does not seem to be in a hurry to move into 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of CM which Rabri is yet to vacate. He has also not shown any vindictive attitude towards opposition leaders as a whole so far.

End of Article