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In the Zero Hour of Parliament, the Central government was asked if it noted the number of deaths of migrant labourers walking back home during Central government-enforced Lockdown and was compensation paid to the next of kin of those deceased? To this, the government replied in five words that echo through our deeply disturbing reality, no such data is maintained. It is saying that this is not an issue that the state could bother itself with. It is a reality that the state could not be invested in. What was further deafening is the silence over it, the dismissal and the resignation of the vocal sections of society. No outrage anywhere, no questions asked, no expression of solidarity. There clearly is a hierarchy of lives and of deaths for the most vocal sections of our society, and it is evident in the blas and blatant admission of the government that No such data exists.

Invisible Deaths and Precarious Lives

Death, much like life is only real in how intimately it is experienced. What lives are to be read, which ones can be suppressed in the dominant discourse. What deaths must move a nation to collectively experienced overwhelming emotions of lament and outrage bordering criminal outburst. However, there is a relation between the lives and lived experiences that are suppressed in dominant discourse and deaths that are distant and invisible, even if the corpse lay in the backyard. These deaths, much like the lives these were, are distant not by virtue of physical separation but by mental separation. These realities occur to us as incapable of rising from our backyards, catching up to us, and holding us responsible. We express shock at the visuals of a toddler trying to pull away the shroud covering his dead mothers corpse, while simultaneously looking for ways to build our distance from it. The goriness of death is hard to ignore so we watch, even if somewhat voyeuristically but we quickly reclaim ourselves from it, establish distance. This distance restores the life-affirming lies that provide a precious sense of security, in a context (like India) where escaping hunger, death and precarity is a marker of privilege. This sense of privilege breeds the political apathy that is today reflected in a majoritarian state. A state that, courtesy its majoritarian support base, no longer feels the need to shroud the goriness of its apathy towards the lesser poorer subjects. Unlike, the popular saying people get the government that they deserve. This socio-political apathy, the ability to identify with and feel invested in groups other than ones own, is the opposite of empathy, the kind that brings people out in solidarity.

Deaths that are reported as big numbers inspire awe and shock but not empathy. It is unfortunate to know about deaths happening but not really moved by it. The socio-political apathy makes deaths seem like an inevitability with some sections of the population, so a farmer commits suicide or a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh is raped and killed, the privileged masses read inevitability of those deaths in the precarity of those lives. It is not a matter we expect the political agency to address. Thats beyond the point of redemption. How is the state exonerated by the privileged masses? Why does such a blatant exhibition of socio-political apathy not inspire solidarity? Have we become numb, then why are those visuals of a dead mother on News Media, encapsulated by advertisements for middle-class consumer products?

State Apathy and Suppression of Lived Experience of Precarity

While the government was appealing to the apathy of privileged masses and claiming oblivion on deaths, Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) in a report released state that the total number of migrant workers who died due to lockdown-migration related issues stands at a whopping 971. Of these, starvation and financial distress (combined) claimed 216 lives, lack of medical care took 77 lives, 209 died in road or train accidents, deaths in Shramik Trains (reported by railway ministry) were 96, suicides 133, deaths in quarantine centers stood at 49, lockdown associated crimes claimed 18 lives, police brutality claimed 12, alcohol withdrawal killed 49, exhaustion claimed 48 lives, and 65 died of unclassified reasons. This is a well-documented record of a disturbingly high number of human casualties caused by manufactured humanitarian crisis.

It is further clear how far the state is removing itself from responsibility by claiming that the lockdown-migration was set-off due to panic created by fake news. The government was prepared to meet the essential requirements of all. This assurance does not agree with the reports that kept pouring during the lockdown. SWAN reported that about 85% of those who had returned home or were in transit had paid to go back home. Two-thirds of these had paid upwards of Rs. 1000 to make the journey. It also reported that 80% of 5911 individuals who reached SWAN, had received no rations from the government.

At this point, it is clear that the lived experiences and death are being suppressed by a dominant narrative. The narrative that is being built through these two responses (we have no data, and fake news and ignorance killed those people) is much in line with explanations littered through television news media at the time. It resonates with the questions posed to the migrant labourers as they were making a perilous journey risking being assaulted by the police, starved and stranded. Why do you want to go back? reflects how distant our media, our news, our privileged audience has become from ground realities, lived experiences of these workers. The inability to understand why would they want to leave, why cant they just eat the rice and dal that is given in ration; why to risk the lives of their children with disease and death; why not wait for the lockdown to be over; why not maintain social distancing; is representative of this mental distance we have cultivated. The utter poverty of imagination that facilitates a distance and the sense of privilege that comes from being distant. A distance that then informs our fragile sense of security. This distance the privileged vocal sections of society live in reduces the lived experiences of precarious lives irrational, ill-informed, almost stupid accidents borne out of individual choices; and deaths then appear inevitability: sad, unfortunate but acceptable. The state apathy then is one (of many) instances of power going awry, more importantly, it is representative of broader relations of power, not between the state and the subjects but between the privileged and the precarious sections of the population. The state is merely reproducing these dynamics of power, and so the silence of popular news media and major newspapers, the silence and glossing over by the privileged section of the population is understandable.

The State, The Privileged and The Precarious

What is the power dynamics of the state, the precarious sections of the population and the privileged sections of the population (not inclusive of capitalists, but certainly shaped by market forces). The socio-political apathy rests on distance from precariousness for the privileged, as I have already illustrated above. This apathy reflects in distancing of oneself from responsibility and political agency characterized by two oft-heard sentences (but what can we do about it?). The privileged section distances itself from the state, while still empathizing with it in that it is governments job to protect the vulnerable, but how much can the government also do. The base understanding is that this isnt OUR issue. The privileged vocal section will not express outrage at the ever-growing crisis of farmer suicides and farmer agitations in this country but the day prices of common goods like vegetable increase, we outrage, we question, we resist. Even so, the perception of what constitutes a worthy issue is defined by echoes within the privileged vocal section. The more resonance, the more confident one feels to lend it ones precious voice. Further, if solidarity and vocalizing threaten our precious sense of security and suggests we may lose our privileged distance we recede.

Meanwhile, for the precarious section of the population, the poor, a long history of apathy has sedimented into resignation from exercising political agency, resulting in the understanding that this government is not for US. The realization that change in government wouldnt bring any change has been hammered down by years of the lived experience of precarity. Their lived experience of precarity is a direct product of failed social and economic networks of support, making them disproportionately vulnerable to violence and arbitrary rules. Those who are ruling have changed, but the power dynamics have not because the power dynamics are not just between the state and precarious populations but also between precarious and privileged sections of populations (which hasnt changed and is reflected in state attitude).

The Nation States, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in her essay on cultural translation, highlights are built upon the backs of stateless people, and in the process of its formulation also creates stateless people. These stateless people are the precarious lives and the inevitable deaths. Who counts as a citizen is not a simple direct consequence of residing within the national boundaries. There clearly is a gradation of who counts as a citizen, and how much. Spivak notes that indigenous poor in many of these contexts have acquired dominant language in order to be represented by politics and law. Their existence in the urban spaces is contingent on their ability to make themselves count and politically organize and lobby. In this organizing and lobbying, the individual experiences of precarity lead to the formation of a solidarity and sometimes emplacement (Roy, 2017). However, instances like those of state-imposed lockdown break the networks of negotiation and support that these vulnerable sections depend on in one quick stroke. Therefore, the lived experience of precarity is collective experience but without any support to be able to dig ones heels and negotiate. The precarious do not get a chance to performatively claim a right where one has been denied. As in this case, with a four-hour notice, the precarious were denied any possibility of collective action or organizing, any possibility to dialoguethe possibility of using other forms of support to address crisis/threat in one domain. For instance, using their networks to find a job when theyve been laid off unceremoniously or using their economic and spatial foothold in the city to negotiate with political pressure. Lockdown was a sudden, complete and all-encompassing crisis with multiple networks of possible social, political and economic support being snapped in one stroke. Rendering the collective experience of precarity extremely individual lived reality, a scenario where numbers do not translate to significance as in electoral process.

It seemed until this point that the state apathy reflects in the reduction of deaths into ball-park figures, obfuscated facts and abstract reasoning. The statistical records of those who died each year, clubbed into categories bracketed by vague explanations had so far typified the states indifference. In the politics of independent India, the 971 who have died have been reduced to further lesser than a cold ball-park figure by state. State and privileged sections socio-political apathy has reduced their lived experience of precarity and their deaths to five words, No such data is maintained.

Smriti Singh teaches Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi.

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Precarious Lives, Invisible Deaths and Political Apathy: What India's Migrant Crisis and State Neglect Speak of Our Times - The New Leam

(CNN) One evening in August, a 14-year-old boy snuck out of his home and boarded a private bus to travel from his village in Bihar to Jaipur, a chaotic, crowded and historical city 800 miles away in Indias Rajasthan state.

He and his friends had been given 500 rupees (about $7) by a man in their village to go on vacation in Jaipur, said the boy, who CNN is calling Mujeeb because Indian law forbids naming suspected victims of child trafficking.

As the bus entered Jaipur, it was intercepted by police.

The man was arrested and charged under Indias child trafficking laws, along with two other suspects. Nineteen children, including Mujeeb, were rescued. Jaipur police said they were likely being taken to bangle factories to be sold as cheap labor.

In India, children are allowed to work fromthe age of 14, but only in family-related businesses and never in hazardous conditions. But the countrys economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and many have lost their jobs, leading some families to allow their children to work to bring in anything they can.

Making colored lac bangles like those sold in Jaipur is hot and dangerous work, requiring themanipulation of lacquermelted over burning coal. Bangle manufacturing is on the list of industries that arent allowed to employ children under 18.

In recent years, India hasstrengthened its lawson child labor, but in the past six months with Covid-19 taking a toll on the economy that work has started to unravel.

Children have never faced such crisis, said 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, whose organizationBachpan Bachao Andolan(Save the Childhood Movement) works to protect vulnerable children. This is not simply the health crisis or economic crisis. This is the crisis of justice, of humanity, of childhood, of the future of an entire generation.

When India went into a strict lockdown in March, schools and workplaces closed. Millions of children were deprived of the midday meal they used to receive at school and many people lost their jobs.

Traffickers have exploited the situation by targeting desperate families, activists said.

Between April and September, 1,127 children suspected of being trafficked were rescued across India and 86 alleged traffickers were arrested, according toBachpan Bachao Andolan.

Most of the children came from rural areas of poorer states, such as Jharkhand or Bihar. Pramila Kumari, the chairwoman of Bihars Commission For Protection Of Child Rights, said the government commission had received more complaints of trafficking during the pandemic.

Child trafficking, when young people are tricked, forced or persuaded to leave their homes and then exploited, forced to work or sold, can occur in several ways. Experts say sometimes, children are lured with false promises without their parents ever knowing, like Mujeeb. Other times, desperate parents hand their children over to work so they can send money home.

Rescued children describe being forced to work without pay in grueling conditions. Some say they have also experienced physical abuse. Without resources and under the control of traffickers, many have no way to leave or communicate with their families.

Nearly always, the trafficker is known to the local community, if not a member of the community themselves, according to childrens rights activists and police.

And the children most at risk are those in families facing acute poverty a symptom of the countrys massive wealth inequality, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

After India went into total lockdown in March, more than half of all migrant households in Bihar state lost all their income,according to a studyconducted in July by UNICEF and Population Council Institute.

The region is home to millions of migrant workers, including Mujeebs father, a construction worker in Delhi.

The state government provided food rations but only 42% of migrant households found the aid sufficient, according to the study.

By the time the federal government began lifting lockdown measures in late May, poorer families were struggling. So many migrant workers went home during the lockdown that demand for cheap labor in Indias cities soared as the country reopened.

Indian police said this desperation, demand for workers, and the reopening of state borders created the perfect environment for traffickers to exploit children.

Now post the lockdown, factories are re-opening and the migrant labor is returning (and) what we are seeing is that children are coming with them, said Shiv Narayan, the station police officer in Jaipurs Bhatta Basti neighborhood, which is home to many small-scale industries and bangle factories.

A survey by Satyarthis Childrens Foundation of 245 households in rural areas of five poorer states, including Bihar, found that 21% of respondents were potentially ready to send their children under 18 to urban areas for work due to their increased economic vulnerability.

But its not just parents who feel they have no other choice the children themselves may feel compelled to go to earn money for their hungry families. Mujeeb said he had brought up the possibility of leaving before with his grandmother, but she had always discouraged him, despite the familys troubles.

There are no earnings here, said his grandmother, who didnt want to be named. How do I feed the child? I told him not to go, but he left with nothing to eat at home.

Fifteen-year-old Aman (not his real name) from Madhubani district in Bihar, also left home during the pandemic to earn money for his family. His father, a daily wage laborer, lost his job during the lockdown leaving the family with very little to eat, said Aman, whose identity cannot be revealed under Indian laws to protect trafficked minors.

When there is tension in the village, shortage of food, then one is forced to think of going elsewhere to work, said Aman. I thought if I go and get a job, I can send some money home for my family to eat.

Schools were still shut and, as the eldest child in his family, he felt a responsibility to help. So, after borders reopened, he decided to go to Jaipur with a man who promised paid work there. Like Mujeeb, Aman got on the bus without telling his family, knowing they might try to stop him. His bus was right behind Mujeebs, according to police.

When the police intercepted the buses and arrested the traffickers, they brought Aman, Mujeeb, and 17 other children to a shelter.

Soon after arriving, Mujeeb said he was eager to go home. Aman said there was nothing awaiting him but the same poverty that drove him to leave.

We dont even have enough to eat, he said. So, my only option is to drop out of school and work to help my family.

If Mujeeb and Aman hadnt been rescued by police on their way to Jaipur, they might have ended up like Nishad, a 12-year-old boy who was allegedly forced to work in a bangle factory under brutal conditions.

Nishad, whose real identity cant be revealed under Indian law, was brought to Jaipur from Bihar by an alleged trafficker just before the March lockdown. Nishad claimed the man locked him and five other boys in a dingy room without any windows and forced them to make bangles for 15 hours a day. There was no way to call authorities or even contact their families, he said.

He made us work for so long and if we didnt work, he would hit us. We were not allowed to step outside. He said that if we got out the police would arrest us, said Nishad.

He paid my parents 1,500 rupees (about $21). (He said) I have to work to pay back that debt. I shouldnt complain since I get a meal at night, at around midnight, and about 50 rupees (70 cents) every Sunday.

Nishad and the other children worked in one factory for five months before police raided it in August after receiving a tip-off from child rights activists at Bhatta Basti.

The man Nishad says mistreated him has been charged under Indias Child Labor Act and Juvenile Justice Act and is now in police custody. Before his arrest, the alleged trafficker told CNN that he pays parents a few thousand rupees to bring their children to Jaipur for work and a better life.

I go and get poor children from Bihar and pay their parents 3,000 rupees (about $40), he said. I bring the children in a bus to work here in factories.

Jaipur is a major destination for traffickers to sell children for labor because its home to bangle factories that perform difficult, intricate work.

In north Jaipur alone, there have been up to 20 police raids and 12 registered cases of child trafficking and child labor since early June, when the lockdown was eased, according to police.

In Jaipur, 50 children were rescued in the last two weeks of August, said Police Inspector Rajendra Khandelwal, whose anti-human trafficking unit conducted the raids on Nishads factory. The 50 children included Mujeeb, Aman and the other children on the buses from Bihar.

Satyarthi says his organization has been tracing the movement of traffickers from source areas like Bihar, as well as rescuing trafficked children from railway stations or transport hubs. He and other rights activists say the government isnt taking sufficient action on a national level.

The governments Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill was passed by parliament in 2018, but lapsed when the Modi governments first term ended before it could be approved by the upper house.

A revised version was due to be considered by ministersearlier this year, but it hasnt progressed to parliament due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Activists warn that if more urgent action isnt taken to address the problems known to cause child trafficking, the current crisis could reverse decades of progress.

To help avoid that, the government needs to do more to get children back in school after the lockdown, activists say.

Kumari, of Bihar governments child rights commission, said they have formed an anti-child trafficking task force in response to the spike in cases. They also issued advisories to local officials and hold virtual meetings on the issue, she said.

About the rise in child trafficking, we have sent letters to all district magistrates and NGOs, that if a case like this comes up, there should be immediate action taken, she said.

Niranjanaradhya V. P., a development educationist at the National Law School, believes that 30% of children who left school due to the pandemic lockdown will never return. He says the governmentsNational Education Policy, which aims to formalize early childhood schooling and expand tertiary education, has no measures in place to address this dropout.

Satyarathi says children who leave school early are the most vulnerable to exploitation.

Those who drop out and are not able to come back to classes, they will not be sitting free at home, Satyarathi said. They will be trafficked, they would become child laborers, they will get married at an early age, beg on streets or even become child criminals and child soldiers.

He said he has written to national and local authorities to express his concerns.

Aman, the 15-year-old boy, wants to go back to school, but without enough money for food, let alone a computer for online classes during the pandemic, an education doesnt seem possible.

The boys stayed at the shelter for about a month before officials arranged for them to go home.

When asked if he preferred to stay in the shelter or return home, Aman looked off in the distance. He took a deep breath and a long pause.

Ill go where I have to go to survive, he finally answered. I dont have an option, do I?

The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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The pandemic has created a second crisis in India the rise of child trafficking - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

CHINA is close to "world domination" and Europe must beware the danger, the former head of Germany's top spy agency has warned.

Gerhard Schindler also warned the Angela Merkel's approach the migrant crisis had given jihadists a "reservoir" of recruits who could be turned to terrorism.

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Mr Schindler, who led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 2011 to 2016, warned Europe "hardly notices" China's attempts to increase its power and influence, reports The Times.

He warned the 5G technology being rolled out in European by Chinese tech giant Huawei is so advanced that you cannot even tell if it has "back doors" to feed data back to Beijing.

"Its as though an engineer specialised in steam engines were supposed to assess an internal combustion engine," he said.

Relations between the West and China have plunged in 2020 amid ongoing rows over the Communist giant's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain has agreed to remove Huawei from the its 5G network, but it will take until 2027 for all of the equipment to be replaced and scrapped.

He said: "If Huawei were to build [5G network components] we would have no idea what they were building.

"You can imagine where we are in a crisis and the threat Were going to turn your communication network off would influence our decisions."

The 68-year-old called on Germany to curb its "strategic dependence" on Beijing and to also ban Huawei.

He said: "China is going about things very cleverly, very quietly, but all the same with an astonishingly consistent strategy, and it is a concern that we in Europe hardly notice this dominant behaviour.

"Our stance towards China has been dominated by business relations. We need to reconsider that. We are partly dependent on China, for example with our car industry.

"But you cant ease this dependence by becoming more dependent; we should strive to be less dependent."

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Ex-spy master Schindler also accused China of "aggressive" behaviour in the South China Sea and attempted to establish economic dominance over Africa.

He also claimed the "new Silk Road" - a web of infrastructure projects sprawling from China across Eurasia - is part of its plot of global dominance.

Mr Schindler's second biggest security concern was about the number of migrants who have arrived in Germany since 2015.

German chancellor Merkel had adopted an open door border policy, welcoming more than 1.4million immigrants in the last five years.

However, he described the high number of young Muslim men who had failed to secure jobs or asylum as a "great danger".

Terrorist recruiters often target young men who are lacking prospects as they attempt to brainwash them to their warped ideology.

Mr Schindler said: "If we cant integrate hundreds of thousands of young, male Muslims, then these people are programmed to fail.

"We will have a reservoir for radicalisation, for recruitment, for violence."

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Mr Schindler has written a new book 'Who's Afraid of the BND?' in which he argues Germany has hobbled its spy agencies with red tape.

He claims the country has been neglecting the serious threats to its security posed by this potential jihadists and China.

However, he was more relaxed regarding Russia - who many perceive as threat to the global order carrying out election hacking and chemical attacks.

He actually called on the Germany government to secure better ties with Russia and to work with Vladimir Putin on the Middle East.

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Mr Schindler however condemned the recent Novichok poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny as an "appalling attack".

He said: "You have to take a clear stance towards Russia.

"The Russians understand that. But that doesnt mean that you cancel Nord Stream 2."

Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany which is expected to be completed in 2021, but is currently marred by US sanctions.

Link:
China close to world domination and Merkels migrant policy gave jihadists reservoir of recruits, ex-spy c - The Sun

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New Delhi: The Bihar assembly elections are just two days away. Polling for the 243-member Bihar assembly will be held in three phases between 28 October and 7 November amid the coronavirus pandemic.

We asked readers:Is the Bihar election more about Prime Minister Narendra Modis governance record than Chief Minister Nitish Kumars?

Here is what some of them said:

The Bihar election is a litmus test for the BJP to test its governance in the central government. The election results would also be important to predict the outcome of the 2021 West Bengal polls. The Bihar election is not going to be played on Chief Minister Nitish Kumars but on the NDA 2.0 governments work and its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. If the JD(U)-BJP tie-up fails to sweep the polls, it would be like a domino effect on the BJP in the assembly elections in different states. If the Nitish Kumar government doesnt get re-elected, it wouldnt be because of his governance but would solely be on the Modi governments lack of governance.

Chirag Vishwas Kanale. Twitter: @chiragkajale48

The Bihar election is more about Nitish Kumar, but he will depend a lot on Modi this time. Thats why JD(U) settled for fewer seats than it the number it had last elections. The Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens will take away Muslim votes from Kumar. And he doesnt have much to show this time with labour migration making things worse for him. This time, only Modi showmanship can sail NDAs boat to power.

Suryank Dwivedi, Dhanbad. Twitter: @Suryank_8

On 25 March, India announced an unprecedented lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Videos of stranded migrant labourers walking home on foot shook the entire country. The Indian Railways, which used to be the lifeline for migrant labourers, was also shut down. After seven months of gradual unlocking, Bihar is now going to the polls. The state is worst affected by the job losses among migrant labourers, and the health infrastructure there is below par. Even after several distractions by non-issues such as nepotism in Bollywood and amid real issues like free fall of GDP, China and Covid-19, the opinion polls have suggested that the TINO (there is no opposition) factor, which helped the BJP in 2019 general elections, will help the JD(U)-BJP alliance in the 2020 Bihar election too.

Sivanesh R, Erode, Tamil Nadu

People in Bihar are hugely political, but they are not able to write their political destiny. Bihar stands on the edge of an uncharted future. Nitish Kumars sushasan babu (Mr good governance) tag is at stake as he faces a massive anti-incumbency in his fourth term. He has undermined the Covid-19 and migrant crisis. The parivartan brigade is visible across the state as his opponents continue to draw huge crowds in their rallies. Kumar stands aloof and is virtually a recluse. People in Bihar are aspirational today. After better law and order, road connectivity, they want jobs, industry and better education. In this melee, PM Modi has emerged as more popular leader in the state compared to Kumar. He spoke about the valour of Bihari soldiers at Galwan. He has taken to nationalism, cleverly fusing it with Bihari regional pride. The PMs political charisma still works with voters in Bihar. It is only Modis goodwill that may help Kumar this time.

Sandeep Wanchoo, Gurgaon. Twitter:@swanchoo

The Covid-19 situation has been pushing our country toward dark times and with that its also showing the incompetence of PM Modis government. The Modi government has failed to tackle issues such as the falling economy, rising coronavirus cases, protests by farmers, rising rape cases and also the rapid growth of unemployment. So now, Bihar elections will clearly be about PM Modis governance record than CM Kumars. BJP has promised to give free Covid-19 vaccines to people in Bihar, in addition to 10 lakh jobs. These are big promises. Hope the BJP government fulfills its promises.

Tanmay Ingale, Mumbai. Twitter: @tanmayingale10

Over 83.62 lakh people across 16 districts affected by floods, Bihari migrant workers walking thousands of kilometres to reach home during the lockdown, acute shortage of doctors and difficult living conditions do not matter for the voters in Bihar. Therefore, the politicians who cheated them once can expect another chance in the elections. They know people are used to this. They will do everything for personal benefits and career. Nitish Kumar is hiding his report card behind the policies of the Modi government. Hence, it is right that the Bihar elections are more about PM Modis governance record than Kumars.

Mohd. Shoaib Khan, Meerut. Twitter: @shoaib93002633

Though the prime minister is way more popular than Kumar seems to be in Bihar today, the CM steals the show as far as the issue of governance record is concerned. A few weeks ago, the election seemed a walkover for the NDA but as the oppositions campaign began to gain momentum (especially the hype after Tejashwi Yadavs 10 lakh jobs guarantee), Kumar, in Yadavs words, is really looking tired. Things have surely backfired for him. But Kumar resorting to brazenly personal attacks and refusing to get over Lalus jungle raj shows where the problem lies.

No rhetoric. There is not much to imagine here. Anti-incumbency, disenchantment surely exist. Even the PM mentioned Lalu raj, praised the central governments efforts and the alliance but he barely had much to show otherwise, despite his usual nationalism card. Some still allege a BJP-LJP conspiracy.

To conclude, Id say that though it seems Bihar does not have a good alternative, there is at least an alternative. For a politically obsessed state like Bihar, this is certainly one of the most unique elections. The EBCs (economically backward class), women and upper castes remain the NDAs core constituencies but it would be interesting to see how Kumars poor governance swings them this time round. The results will tell the arithmetic, but forget not, for a CM who effectively denied his aggrieved migrant janata a return home during the worst of times due to whatever considerations, the election from most angles is more about his governance.

Khushi Barman, Jaipur. Twitter: @whatkhushi

Voters dont vote on PMs popularity for state elections. Bihar election is definitely not about PM Modis governance and his performance, although BJP is trying its best to make it that way. The recent trend in the electoral history of India is very clear the voters make a very sharp distinction between state elections/state leaders and central elections/central leaders. This was the case in Delhi and Rajasthan elections. PM Modi was very popular but voters ultimately chose AAP and Congress, respectively, as they know they were voting for a state government. So, even in Bihar, the voters will judge Nitish Kumars performance and other alternatives available before casting their votes.

Vidyuth Chikoti, San Francisco. Twitter: @followvidyuth

India is the second largest democracy in the world but there is hardly any democracy in the country. This is evident ahead of the Bihar elections. We follow an indirect form of democracy, that is representative democracy where every party fields its candidates. They seek votes on the vision and mission of their parties. Similarly, in Bihar elections also, BJP, JD(U) and RJD are trying to garner votes through their lucrative manifesto and past works. In this manifesto fight, BJP is far ahead of any other party as it has the brand name of Modi. Modi has always acted as a magnet in the Indian elections due to his charismatic leadership skills. In Bihar though, the ground reality is different. His BJP and ally JD(U) have failed abysmally in making Bihar a developed state. There is huge unemployment (46 per cent more than national average of 23 per cent) and poverty. Now its time to change this notion about any leader and we should vote using our conscience on the basis of their developmental works done in the past, instead of voting in the name of caste, class and religion.

Vivek Kumar. Twitter: @vivekku12399160

With people usually looking for what they need in the manifestos of political parties, the latter always try and manipulate their thinking and understanding capabilities by showing whatever they want them to see. Bihar election is not an exception. BJP and JD(U) have tried to do the same thing by making promises that the voters wanted to hear, besides praising Modi and his achievements. But it may not work this time. They are defending themselves from the attacks of the RJD-led alliance on the issue of unemployment and jobs.

Prajjwal Kasera, Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh. Twitter: @Prajjwal3959

Also read: Reader View: Beti Bachao campaign is mostly govt propaganda and PR exercise

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Reader View: It is only Modis goodwill that could help Nitish Kumar in Bihar this time - ThePrint

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat's Dussehra speech on Sunday, delivered on the eve of the Bihar elections, was met with cheer and some relief by the BJP. He not only praised the NDA's response to the dual challenges of coronavirus and China, but sought to wrong-foot the Opposition by inveighing against 'divisive' forces masquerading as 'champions of secularism'.

From the BJP's perspective, the underlying political current of the speech and the function itself were both unexceptionable. Only 50 persons attended and social distancing was visibly maintained. And nothing that could spook Bihar's voters was said (unlike 2015, when his remark on rationalising quotas put the BJP on the defensive). Quite the reverse.

Bhagwat predictably valorised India's tough handling of the Chinese threat on the Ladakh border. The armed forces' resolute and brave stand, he hinted, was a departure from a hitherto 'weak' response. It came as a surprise to China and an example to the rest of the world, which is now well aware that India is no longer a pushover.

His implication being that the NDA government has demonstrated its capability both in dealing with the ever-present menace at the border and in diplomacy aimed at shoring up a united front (both global and regional) against Chinese aggression. Thus, given that a cornered China might retaliate in unpredictable ways, citizens can repose their faith in the current dispensation.

Another notable theme of the address, liberally interspersed with quotes and phrases in English, was the threat to internal security from the unhappy convergence of political and extremist forces the so-called tuke tukde gang. This, he said, was blatantly obvious during the campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Bhagwat strongly condemned the opposition to the CAA, which he maintained was patently aimed at including (new citizens) and not excluding (existing ones). He observed that while the abrogation of Article 370 related to Jammu and Kashmir and the Ram Janambhoomi verdict were met with peaceful restraint and good sense, the CAA triggered an atmosphere of tension.

In a clear broadside against centre-left parties, he said that politico-extremist forces masquerading as protectors of secularism had sought to embrace the grammar of anarchy by dividing society, instigating violence and undermining national unity, instead of taking the democratic path.

Bhagwat asserted that promoting separatism, while spreading rumours against 'hindutva', was the modus operandi of these forces. He drew a stark contrast between their egotism and identity politics and the Sangh's commitment to emotional integration, pluralism and mutual tolerance.

The economic, social and political impact of the Covid-19 pandemic naturally informed a considerable portion of Bhagwat's address. The mahamari, he observed, had suppressed if not eliminated the negativity of the preceding months.

He made it a point to heap unstinted praise on the frontline health and sanitation workers. The latter, it may be pointed out, are traditionally drawn from the most disadvantaged communities. In an oblique reference to the lockdown, he said the administrative response may have seemed a tad over-the-top, but inculcated a necessary sense of caution.

Bhagwat skimmed over the migrant crisis by celebrating the great Indian spirit of self-reliance and community bonding, which had come to the fore during the pandemic. The society had pulled together and the principle of thy need is greater was adopted, with the afflicted aiding those who were even worse off, all of which fostered a spirit of unity and was a testimony to India's social capital.

The sarsanghchalak also took the opportunity to advocate the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' policy while not referring to it directly. The pandemic had shown that globalisation without self-reliance was not viable for any nation. While foreign investment and technology is welcome, it should be on India's terms, he said.

He pointed out that the pandemic had showcased the advantages of swadeshi in every sphere: self-reliance for farmers in seeds and other farm inputs, a cleaner environment, less conspicuous consumption. He also acknowledged the need for protecting farmers and small-scale industries, re-skilling workers and job-creation in the wake of the pandemic. All of this was possible in the current circumstances, he observed.

All in all, in summing up the turbulent events of the last one year, he managed to give the ruling dispensation a good report card. Whether Bihar's voters will take note remains to be seen.

Disclaimer:The author is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal.

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Bhagwat Gave BJP a Good Report Card in Dussehra Speech. But Will it Sway Bihar Voters Towards Saffron? - News18