'Generous' Nitish turns his native Kalyan Bigha into a model village

KALYAN BIGHA ( NALANDA ): The native place of CM Nitish Kumar has everything a modern village should have and, perhaps, more developed than that of former CM and RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s Phulwariya in Gopalganj which voted on Sunday.


If Phulwariya has its own railway station and helipad among other modern facilities, Kalyan Bigha has an Industrial Training Institute (ITI), a shooting range, a swanky referral hospital, power sub-station, government middle and high schools, a park with open air gym and another memorial park dedicated to Nitish’s parents and wife, concrete roads, drains and 24X7 power supply among other facilities.

Most people in the village, 60km east of Patna, have concrete houses.

The villagers here fondly remember Nitish as “Munna”, as he was fondly called. Locals say Nitish’s family has around 22 acre of land, mainly given to share croppers. The memorial park having busts of Nitish’s mother Parmeshwari Devi, father Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh and wife Manju Devi has also been developed on a piece of land belonging to his family.

“Ram Lakhan-ji was a thorough Congressman but he was denied a ticket despite being a strong candidate. Then, Nitish-ji decided to join active politics to make his father’s dream come true,” a villager said.

About 15km from Patna-Bakhtiyarpur four-lane highway, it is Kalyan Bigha from where Nitish had launched his Harit Bihar Kranti (green Bihar campaign) in August 2011. “Nitish ji has a special connect with the village and comes here at least thrice a year on the death anniversary of his father, mother and wife,” said Satyaprakash Kumar.

Villagers said Nitish’s ancestral house was in a shambles till recently, but it is now being reconstructed. The villagers say they will vote for their “gaon ka beta” (son of the soil).

“Nitish ji has done a lot of work for the village. From bringing in electricity to water, schools and a hospital, there is not a single corner of the village that hasn’t been touched by development,” said Rajnish Kumar, a farmer.

Though people are happy with the development, a section in Manjhi Tola (hamlet) have reservations with Nitish for changing sides. “Side badalte rehte hai. Lalu-ji badhay aur unhi ko dhakka maar ke aagey chale gaye (He keeps changing sides. It was Lalu-ji who made him what he is today, but he pushed him aside and moved ahead),” said Keshav Manjhi. However, he also adds that since he is a son of the soil, the villagers will vote for his candidate.

A neighbouring village, Nanda Bigha, has also gained for its proximity to Kalyan Bigha. “Development started here before Kalyan Bigha, from the time Nitish-ji became the railway minister,” says Manoj Singh , a farmer. From electricity to water and proper drainage system, Nanda Bigha is almost like a twin brother.

“It does not matter who the candidate is from the district. There is only one face for us — Nitish ji. Not only in our village but the entire district has been developed by him,” said Sharad Paswan, who could be seen sitting with a congregation of men at a temple in the town.

Another villager, Mukesh Kumar, said, “We haven’t received Rs2,000 as a part of the first instalment under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, but we have our own hands and we will work for our sustenance and vote for Nitish-ji.”