ThePrint 2015 WRITINGS ON THE WALL : 10 YEARS OF NITISH RULE IN BIHAR: SUCCESSES & FAILURES
Nov 12, 2025
Explore the dramatic changes in Bihar over a decade under Nitish Kumar. Discover how political shifts led to a rise in consumer culture, evident in wall ads promoting schools and branded goods. The discussion highlights the state's evolving demographics, symbolized by the emergence of smartphones among poorer voters. Nitish's development initiatives, like bicycle distribution, reshaped lives but also sparked youthful ambitions for more. Finally, the podcast critiques the lack of industrial growth and the enduring challenges of sanitation, emphasizing the need for skills training.
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Visible Signs Of Social Mobility
- Bihar under Nitish showed rapid social and economic change visible in consumer goods and services.
- The shift from bare feet to smartphones signalled rising aspiration and connectivity across castes.
Rallies Filled With Smartphone Cameras
- At rallies in 2015 people, even in poorer areas, recorded leaders on smartphones.
- Shekhar Gupta noted hundreds of faces holding phones at both Lalu and Nitish events.
Bicycles And Sanitary Pads Worked
- Nitish's free bicycle scheme and sanitary-pad distribution lived on as visible welfare successes.
- Shekhar Gupta highlights these initiatives as continuing hits under Nitish's rule.