Bypolls rout scuttles govt move for land reforms.

A well- intentioned move of the Bihar government to bring about sweeping land reforms in the state appears to have gone awry with chief minister Nitish Kumar announcing that there are no plans to enact a legislation to protect sharecroppers.

Forced to go on the backfoot over the issue in face of mounting criticism by the leaders of the ruling coalition parties, Nitish made a categorical statement recently that it was not binding on the government to accept the recommendations of the D Bandyopadhyay Commission that had submitted its report on land reforms. " Nobody is going to lose his ownership over land," Nitish reassured.

Ironically, Nitish himself had set up the commission to look into the thorny issue. Like many others, Nitish also believed that the root cause of a majority of Bihar's problems like Naxalism and caste conflict was the failure of the successive state governments to implement land reforms which resulted in increasing the rich- poor divide and helped the feudal forces to hold sway.

But the submission of its report by the commission opened the proverbial Pandora's box for the state government.

Even before it could study the commission's recommendations, speculation about the contents of the report started flying thick and fast. It was said that the government was about to implement the commission's report which had recommended proprietary rights over land to sharecroppers.

The government sought to allay the fears of the landed class by distributing copies of the report among legislators but this did not dispel the doubts and misgivings. Its first impact was felt during the by- elections to 18 Bihar assembly seats this year.

The ruling coalition of the Janata Dal( United)- Bharatiya Janata Party, which was widely expected to romp home, faced a drubbing at the hustings. It set the alarm bells ringing within the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA). Many of its senior leaders said that the confusion over the land reforms bill led to the rout in the bypolls.

These leaders argued that the landed class had been the traditional supporters of NDA in recent years but the government's proposed bill on the commission's recommendations had made them apprehensive about their rights over their land. In fact, a senior JD- U minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, Ramashray Prasad Singh, publicly denounced Bandyopadhyay for his recommendations.

The BJP leaders were angry as well. When their senior party leader and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi talked about providing Kisan credit cards worth up to Rs 5,00,00 to sharecroppers simply on the basis of an affidavit, some party legislators unsheathed their swords and called for Modi's removal as the leader of the party in Bihar assembly. Modi had to hastily reassure them that he was merely quoting the Reserve Bank of India guidelines and in no way did it reflect the government's intention to give ownership rights to sharecroppers.

The government's stand has given an issue to the Opposition which has accused Nitish of playing into the hands of feudal forces.

The CPI- ML has given a call for Bihar bandh on November 24, the day the Nitish government completes four years in office, in protest against the government's stand on the issue.

The controversy over the bill has left Nitish in an unenviable position.

On one hand, he would have liked to introduce a legislation on land reforms in his bid to tackle key issues but, on the other, he also has to see to it that the NDA's traditional supporters do not turn against the government. He, therefore, has to tread very carefully on the double- edged sword that is the land reforms bill from now on.

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