Famous for Mahatma Gandhi’s first satyagraha, Champaran became notorious in the 1980s and 1990s due to a spate of violent incidents like dacoity and abduction, with many criminal gangs holding sway in the region till 2005.
Along with unemployment, law and order concerns also trigger migration with Bihar standing at number two position in the country after Uttar Pradesh in terms of the number of its migrants in other states.
In West Champaran district, the out-migration situation seems to have improved in recent years. As per the 2011 Census, it was listed as one of the 14 districts in Bihar that provided the “pull factor” for migration within the state. It was also among the districts that saw the return of a large number of migrants after they lost their jobs during the Covid pandemic in 2020.
“I decided to come back because I found it is safer here. With good roads and highways, I could set up a shop to feed my family. It’s better to be with the family when you can afford it. Earlier, we could not think of keeping a shop open once it’s dark and now my shop is open till late evening,” said Sanjay Gupta, who runs a small eatery on the national highway in West Champaran.
In the district headquarters Bettiah, Sheela Devi is relieved that she did not have to send her son Naresh away for a job. “Naresh’s elder brother went to Mumbai, he was earning Rs 15,000 per month. But after the first month, he was down with typhoid and had to spend almost Rs 20,000 for his treatment. What’s the point then – you fall ill away from family and no one is around to take care of you,” she said.
Naresh, 22, works at a local fish market. “I may not be earning much, but I can sleep in my own house and be with my family and friends,” he said.
For Sheela and her extended family, who live in a building inherited from their grandfather, a sense of security and the existence of basic infrastructure in the area are enough to again extend their support to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the NDA in the upcoming Bihar elections.
With the ruling coalition’s aggressive campaign against “jungle raj” of the Lalu Prasad era creating a resonance this time too, a section of people, especially women, in West Champaran credit Nitish for the improved law and order and good roads, saying that he should be “appreciated for what he has done for Bihar”.
Ram Babu Kumar, an advocate, believes that it was Nitish’s policies that “brought down migration by 3-5% in the district”. Like others in his neighbourhood, Ram also has a list of complaints, but believes that the NDA government could do “something” for the state. “Governments in the past have had many excuses for not doing enough to generate jobs. There is still goondaism, law and order is not as good as it should be. But we have to choose the best among the available options,” he said.
Several local youths complain about lack of jobs. Some of them have also pinned their hopes on Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, which they say is using a “different language” in the caste-ridden state politics.
Map of West Champaran
After having been out of power for nearly two decades, the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is going all out to woo young voters, seeking their support for its 35-year-old CM face Tejashwi Yadav for ushering in change in Bihar. The RJD’s M-Y (Muslims and Yadavs) base seems to be fuelling the Opposition alliance’s outreach to youths.
“No one is against Nitish. But it’s time for a change. This government has failed to give the youths a hope for a better future,” said Rajesh Kumar, a rickshaw driver in Motihari. “There’s a tough battle this time.”
Echoing him, Raj Kumar, 28, who had to leave his wife and young children to work with a construction firm in Hyderabad, said: “You cannot keep asking for votes for the roads or improved law and order in every election. Roads are not enough to claim a good development record. Had the government done something for youths, I would not have to go to another state for work.”
Raj, who has come home to celebrate Chhath, has reposed his hope in Prashant Kishor. “He (Kishor) may not win several seats this time. But I will vote for him because I believe he will be able to stop Biharis from going out of the state for work,” he said.
A grocery shop owner Pradeep Kumar, who earlier used to work in Ladakh, said his family was traditional BJP supporters but has now decided to back the Jan Suraaj. “It’s a decision taken by our elderly uncle. None of us defies him. He thinks Bihar needs a change,” said Pradeep.
This call for change seems to be the challenge facing the BJP’s candidate in the Bettiah constituency, Renu Devi, the five-term MLA and ex-deputy chief minister. She is caught in a multi-cornered contest, pitted against the Congress’s Wasi Ahmad, Jan Suraaj’s Anil Singh, and an Independent candidate Rohit Sikaria. In the 2020 polls, she had defeated the Congress’s Madan Mohan Tiwari by 18,079 votes.
The district, considered a BJP stronghold, is up for the polls in the second phase on November 11. Of its nine Assembly seats, seven – including Bettiah, Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj, Bagaha, Lauriya, Nautan and Chanpatia – are held by the BJP, and one seat each, Valmiki Nagar and Sikta, by the JD(U) and CPI(ML) L respectively.
Prateek Edwin Sharma, the chairman of Chanakya College of Education, Bettiah, said the migration from the district started in the 1990s and continued in the 2000s because of poor law and order and lack of jobs. “When Nitish took over for the first time in 2005, he literally chased away the goondas and dacoits out of Bihar in his first five years just like what Yogi ji (Yogi Adityanath) did in UP. In the second phase, Nitish started working on creating job opportunities. Since Bihar is a landlocked state, only agro-based industries have prospects here. Bihar does not have infrastructure and raw materials to sustain industries. We have geographical disadvantages as the nearest port is in Haldia in West Bengal,” Sharma said.
There are about six sugar mills, including one state-run, in the region. “For a sugarcane farmer, it is possible to sell their products within 25-40 kms now. Earlier, they used to take sugar to Gorakhpur (UP). This led to an increase in the value of land – at least 200% rise in 20 years. So, many youngsters feel why should we go out when our own land has value,” he said.
The district, which accounts for over 40% of Bihar’s sugar production, is also said to have the record of purchasing the highest number of tractors in the state.
Sharma, a member of the national executive committee of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, however admitted that only drastic changes in the education system and mindset could push the state’s development. “People should be more tech -savvy. The migration has come down, but brain drain is intense. The talents which could have stayed back and helped in the development process are missing. Bihar should spend more on human resource,” Sharma added.
The Nitish government has also struggled to fulfil the promise of replicating one of its much-hyped initiatives, a start-up zone in the Chanpatia block, to check migration in other belts. “It’s true that we have not been able to create more such start-ups. The Chanpatia one has also faced several issues,” said four-time West Champaran MP and ex-state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal.
For this failing, Jaiswal blamed the 18-month Mahagathbandhan government between August 2022 and January 2024, when Nitish had snapped ties with the BJP to helm the government with the RJD. “Tejashwi was controlling the government and did a lot of damage. They wound up many initiatives taken by the NDA government. But now the central government has announced and started working on the multi-sector SEZ in Kumarbagh industrial area in West Champaran. There are proposals for two industrial parks and the process has started. When the BJP-JD(U) government returns to power, it will pick up momentum,” he said.