PATNA: With Bihar assembly elections approaching fast, both Biharis and people of other states are voicing their opinions on the polls and various issues related to Bihar and its development through news portals, social networking sites and online discussions. The fans of arch political rivals, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, are engrossed in fighting a war of words on these fora. The number of their supporters, or detractors, in cyberspace is increasing with every passing day.
“Development has become synonymous with your (Nitish) name,” says Kunal Kishore on Facebook. On Orkut, Abhishek Singh supports Lalu by asking others not to underestimate him. “Don’t forget that there was only three percent swing of votes away from RJD in the 2005 assembly polls when Lalu lost. He can bounce back.”
Randhir says on Orkut that it is the result of Nitish’s honest work that the Human Development Index (HDI) is improving in the state, showing that Bihar is growing in terms of development. “So, I want to say to all my friends to shun narrow outlook, accept the reality and try to help the honest person at the helm.” To this, Vijay points out that the 2006-07 HDI report indicates that Bihar has lagged behind other states on all developmental indices. The state ranks at the bottom, with the HDI for Bihar being about 20 per cent lower than the national figure.
Many people on these sites are projecting Nitish Kumar as the “hero” of Bihar. But there are also some who are claiming that Lalu Prasad is undisputedly the most powerful leader of Bihar. One of the famous communities on Orkut, ‘Nitish Kumar – Pride of Bihar’, has a massive 5,637 followers, while Lalu’s communities on Orkut have 5,642 supporters. A neck and neck war seems to be going on.
This war of words is taking place on Twitter also. Whereas Nitish communities have 4,062 members, Lalu’s have 1,322 members. Along with this, Nitish is active on Twitter also, with his blog having 415 followers. On his latest blog, there are 33 comments till date.
For Bihar elections, the polling dates are still away. But online voting is going on. On youbihar.com, Lalu is leading with 69% vote on the question: “Do you think that Laluji has the potential to become PM in future?” On biharinewsinhindi.blogspot.com, Nitish is leading with 75% votes on the question “Who will be the next CM of Bihar?”
But there are also many people who are fed up with both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, and are seeking a change now. Vijay Kumar, a voter in this category, in his posting said that during Lalu raj “my heartland, Bihar” was bifurcated and Jharkhand came into being. Now, demand for Mithilanchal and Poorvanchal are being raised. “People are torn into caste and religion politics. Education in Bihar is at an all-time low now. During Lalu’s days it was `goonda raj’ on streets. Now, it is `white collar goonda raj’ of bureaucracy.
On these sites, one notices that those involved in creating such online communities are either students or specialists working in and outside Bihar. Most of them are below 35.
Read more: Election battle echo reaches cyberspace – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Election-battle-echo-reaches-cyberspace/articleshow/6727293.cms#ixzz125NrhUgW