When corruption becomes systemic, it does more than rob a state of resources; it paralyzes its people. Bihar, once a seat of ancient wisdom and political rebellion, now finds itself suffocated by a legacy of patronage politics, nepotism, and entrenched corruption. The recent revelations by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the land for jobs case involving Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav are a grim reminder of this decline.
According to the CBI, Lalu Prasad took advantage of the desperation of job seekers from underprivileged backgrounds during his tenure as Union Railways Minister between 2004 and 2009. The allegation is both cruel and calculated: in exchange for railway jobs, poor candidates, mostly from Bihar, were made to transfer land to Lalu and his family either at throwaway prices or as outright gifts. The case, currently being heard in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court, shows this was not a one-off incident but part of a deliberate system of governance driven by personal gain.
CBI’s special prosecutor D P Singh presented compelling evidence, including a clear cash trail linking land transfers to job appointments. Singh underlined that the land benefitted Lalu’s family alone and that desperate candidates were willing to part with ancestral property for the promise of secure employment.
The deeper tragedy lies not only in the crime itself but in its corrosive impact on Bihar’s social fabric. When power is used for personal enrichment and poverty becomes a tool for political leverage, the result is a culture of silence and helplessness. Generations of Biharis have grown up witnessing leaders govern not through merit or vision but through caste arithmetic, muscle power, and manipulation of public despair.
This is not just about Lalu Prasad. His brand of politics, once praised as a vehicle for social justice, gradually morphed into a symbol of entitlement, opportunism, and dynastic control. Yet he is only one figure in a broader malaise that grips the state. Bureaucrats reduced to puppets, politicians thriving on transactional loyalty, and a governance model that is more performative than purposeful have become the norm.
As job opportunities dry up and industries bypass Bihar, the youth are left with two choices: migrate or submit. Migration has become the default route, leading to Punjab’s farms, Delhi’s factories, and now the gig economy in urban India. Those who remain find themselves locked into a system that rewards connections and compliance over competence.
This inertia is no accident. It is a design. When leadership encourages dependency over self-reliance, when welfare schemes are turned into bargaining chips, and when justice is doled out selectively, the people do not just lose opportunities. They lose hope.
This scandal forces a deeper reckoning: what happens when a state’s poor are not merely neglected but actively exploited? When railway jobs, once symbols of pride and security for middle and lower-middle-class families, become political favors and trust in the state collapses.
For Bihar to escape this vicious cycle, a change in political leadership is not enough. It needs a moral renaissance, a cultural awakening that demands integrity over influence and service over slogans. Bihar needs leaders who do not remember the poor only during elections but uphold their dignity every single day.
The court will determine Lalu Prasad’s legal future. But the people of Bihar must choose their political future. If they continue to accept transactional politics as normal, then this scandal is not an exception. It is a preview. And if that happens, Bihar will remain shackled not just by poverty but by its own surrender.
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