There was a time, not too long ago, when Bihar symbolized despair. Before 2005, the state was crippled by broken roads, erratic power, and a collapsing law-and-order system. Industry shunned it, educated youth fled it, and ordinary citizens lived in fear. The future looked like an endless cycle of decline.

That cycle broke in 2005, when the NDA, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, came to power. The first task was not glamorous but urgent: restore law and order, bring back governance, and create trust in the system. A state that had slipped into lawlessness was pulled back to the rule of law. For the first time in decades, people began to believe that Bihar could be governed.

Then came the rebuilding. Roads and bridges began to connect villages that had been forgotten for generations. Electricity, once available for barely a few hours, reached homes across rural Bihar. Schemes like the cycle yojana for girls and 50 percent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions changed the social fabric of villages. Education and healthcare started to receive serious investment. The message was clear: development........

© Free Press Journal