Researchers flock to Bihar for election study

PATNA: Elections in Bihar are considered the most colourful in the country because of display of the most extreme aspects of politics – muscle power, money, political rivalry, bloody competition for tickets besides tussle between secular and non-secular forces. It all has caught the attention of researchers from both foreign and Indian universities, many of whom are camping in the state for months to assess the mood ahead of the elections.
Sarthak Bagchi, a student of Leiden University, Netherlands, is camping in Bihar for the past two months to study the socio-political atmosphere and the change it brings during the elections. Bagchi is a PhD scholar doing a research on political science of South Asia. “My focus is basically on ethnic attachment of politicians, development and caste association of leaders. What I have seen so far in Bihar is that the discourse of development is layered with ethnic attachments,” Bagchi said.
Aditya Dhar, another scholar from George Washington University, spent around two months in Bihar before leaving for USA where he will do teaching. During his stay in Bihar, Dhar visited Nalanda, Jehanabad, Madhepura, Saharsa and several other places to find whether the discourse of development has percolated down to the masses or not.
The researchers met political think tanks of JD(U), RJD, BJP and Congress. They even attended rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and functionaries of grand alliance.
A PhD in political science from Delhi University, Kunal Kishore, who is also camping in Bihar, said the state’s politics offers an insight into the aspects of the world’s largest democracy. “I have observed that it’s a personality war in Bihar this time. The clash of personalities has overshadowed the issues of development,” Kishore said. Chinmay Kumar, who has done MPhil from the University of Oxford, is also engaged in research work on CM Nitish Kumar’s bicycle project.
Another PhD in political science from Delhi University, who did not wish to be quoted because of the terms of his contract of research, said the Bihar elections will be the precursor of the NDA’s performance in Uttar Pradesh. “It will also be an acid test for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar,” he added.
A research analyst with Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research, Ashish Kumar Ranjan, who is doing research on Bihar polls, said, “The Bihar elections offer the best perceptive in the models of democracy where even the people with very thin wallets have the chance to contest the election and project themselves as an option alongside the crorepati candidates.” Ranjan is focusing on the campaign strategy of political parties and the similarity between what the parties promise in the election manifestos and the elements of their on-ground strategies and electoral promises.
The subjects of other researchers include the rising political prowess of dalits, Musahars and the backward classes in Bihar.
JD(U) spokesperson Dr Ajay Alok said researchers from different fields keep approaching the party in the run up to elections. Similarly, other parties are also enlightening the researchers with the functioning of their respective units.