In Bihar, the story of Mani Mohan, former principal of Patna’s Veterinary College, comes as no revelation. He died a month back, battling for his life for one year amidst daily threats. His own students had set him on fire when he asked them not to cheat. Till date not a single culprit has been booked. To make matters worse the Bihar government and the University saw to it that this idealist suffered every living moment for his honesty. Sacked from his job, the principal ran from pillar to post to seek justice. The end result, however, was that he was not given any compensation, no medical or moral help, no financial assistance and not even his pension or gratuity.

     Jungle law is the only law that Bihar knows of. It heads the list of sick (BIMARU) states in the country. It has the largest private armies. It has the highest crime rate. And, of course, it has the inimitable Laloo and Rabri, who mock the democratic process.

     Bihar has the dubious distinction of electing the largest number of representatives with criminal records. Virtually every second MP coming from Bihar has been charged at some time or the other in cases ranging from dacoity and extortion to rape, kidnapping, attempt to murder and, in some cases, even murder. According to a recent survey, the Bihar State Assembly has at least half a dozen MLAs operating from their prison cell and thrice as many out on bail. All this bears testimony to the erosion of democratic institutions in the state and the rampant mismanagement of public office and resources. What else can one expect in a state where the Chief Minister has the reputation of being the biggest hoodlum and law-breaker; whose daughter’s marriage witnessed blatant extortion and misuse of public money and authority.

     Years of incessant violence and crime have made the masses believe that anarchy and lawlessness is a way of life, and misgovernance is the ‘normal course of governance’. The common man is desensitized to the happenings around him and, in the process, misgovernance has become the hallmark of the state.

     While Bihar is the most obvious example, many states are threatening to go the Bihar way. Uttar Pradesh tops this list as reflected in the last election which saw an alarmingly large number of contestants in the fray having a criminal record. What then is the way out of this quagmire?

     Foremost is the need for a public revolution in thinking. People have to undergo a change in attitude. They should stop providing a fatalistic (karma) explanation for the emergence of a criminal and corrupt leadership. After all Laloo land is also the janmabhoomi of the most honest and righteous politicians that India has known, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Jayaprakash Narayan. The transition speaks volumes about the degeneration in the value system of the electorate, which has also reflected in the quality of the contestants.

     Can the reforms suggested by the Election Commission regarding disclosure of the antecedents of the candidates contesting an election, improve the quality of representatives sent to the Legislature? Can it give states like Bihar some semblance of working within a legal framework? Can it change the electoral process, marred by rigging, booth capturing and political murders? The answer cannot be an emphatic ‘yes’, as this requires extensive social engineering. Legislation only provides a framework, but the will to function within and resist the temptation of transgressions when it acts as constraints, depends on the political elite.

     Bihar’s journey towards becoming the ‘worst governed province’ spans three decades. Unchecked and unpunished incidents of misgovernance have slowly but steadily eroded the vitals of the state, making Bihar a sordid land of misgovernance. An important lesson to be learnt from the Bihar experience is that problems should be nipped in the bud before they become incurable. Hence, before the ‘Bihar Syndrome’ overwhelms other parts of the country, the system needs to be revamped. And electoral reforms would be a small but significant step in that direction, since, yatha raja, tatha praja (like leaders, so the masses).