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Ruled or Misruled: Story and Destiny of Bihar
Ruled or Misruled, Story and Destiny of Bihar by The Indian Express’ Assistant Editor SANTOSH SINGH offers a 360 degree journey of Bihar politics since Independence, especially since the Congress’ downfall in 1990. An out and out reporter’s book, it tells an interesting and tumultuous journey of the post-1990 legends of Bihar politics - Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi with the legendary clash between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi - with the untold version on the 2010 dinner cancellation and Nitish’s ambition, providing the third angle. Right from revealing JP’s dilemma between Lalu and Nitish to socialist leader Karpoori Thakur out-thinking the Congress with his simplicity. From Jagannath Mishra making a confession on his controversial 1982 Anti-Press Bill to the numerous tales of vernaculariszation of politics and giving a voice to the poor by Lalu, the writer also traces the story of the making of the Ranbir Sena at the height of caste wars. The stories of repair, hope and construction under Nitish Kumar, disillusionment and new political realignment after the 2013 NDA split, Nitish and Lalu coming together again after two decades and Nitish almost walking out of the Lalu alliance again are just as captivating. Jitan Ram Manjhi, who makes startling revelations on how he played a dummy for Nitish and Ram Vilas Paswan, also concedes the real truth of his Godhra stand.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 29, 2015
20 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Santosh Singh
42 books7 followersSantosh Singh,Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, is a senior journalist, political analyst covering Bihar for over 18 years and has overall experience of 26 years in journalism.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 22, 2017
I must straightaway confirm what should be obvious from the book title: this is not a novel, nor even a historical tale in the literary sense of that term.
This is a factual account of the deeds and misdeeds of the people who ruled the state of Bihar in India over the last 40 years or so. This is an account not just of the people who ruled Bihar, but also of the people who manipulated the rulers and the people who were manipulated by the rulers. This is an account of why the state of Bihar has for so long been so miserably underdeveloped, why the state has such a large proportion of people who subsist at way below poverty level and why the state has been afflicted with an advanced stage of lawlessness. This book will tell you a lot about why the State of Bihar has progressed little since Indian independence, in comparison with most of the other states of India.
The author tends to be very painstaking and repetitive about data, and so, can irk the reader at times. However, as an author writing a book about the political scene in India, I found much of the data interesting, even absorbing.
The book concentrates on two politicians: both in their own ways have held important roles or even dominated Bihar’s political scene. Both have been enemies and strange bedfellows. One is full of noise and show and little of substance while the other is dourer, but has the far better track record as a leader. The author’s insider stories, written in staid, no-nonsense English, of who did what and why taught me a lot of useful lessons.
This book is very worth a read if you are not looking for a fast moving story line. The keyword here is, I think, instructive.
This is a factual account of the deeds and misdeeds of the people who ruled the state of Bihar in India over the last 40 years or so. This is an account not just of the people who ruled Bihar, but also of the people who manipulated the rulers and the people who were manipulated by the rulers. This is an account of why the state of Bihar has for so long been so miserably underdeveloped, why the state has such a large proportion of people who subsist at way below poverty level and why the state has been afflicted with an advanced stage of lawlessness. This book will tell you a lot about why the State of Bihar has progressed little since Indian independence, in comparison with most of the other states of India.
The author tends to be very painstaking and repetitive about data, and so, can irk the reader at times. However, as an author writing a book about the political scene in India, I found much of the data interesting, even absorbing.
The book concentrates on two politicians: both in their own ways have held important roles or even dominated Bihar’s political scene. Both have been enemies and strange bedfellows. One is full of noise and show and little of substance while the other is dourer, but has the far better track record as a leader. The author’s insider stories, written in staid, no-nonsense English, of who did what and why taught me a lot of useful lessons.
This book is very worth a read if you are not looking for a fast moving story line. The keyword here is, I think, instructive.
September 11, 2020
A very balanced book, providing mostly reportage based broader understanding of the politics of governance and society that too especially role of caste (EBC, OBC) of Bihar, starting from Independence to just before 2015 assembly election. Through it's narration it covers majorly the politics of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar but it also puts decent light on the politics of other characters like Jitan Ram Majhi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Upendra Kushwaha, Karpoori Thakur, Sushil Modi etc and also on important phases & situation arising out of it like JP movement, Red terror and caste militia, kidnapping industry, shuffling of CMs etc. This can be very good read for outsiders who have rare exposure to even the contemporary politics but other can skip read some part.
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April 14, 2025An excellent read, to know about politics of Bihar. The book crosses the brief periods of lala yadav, nitish Kumar (pioneer of Bihar Politics and how they influence National politics). It is excellent bed time read to know the history of Bihar.
July 31, 2023
Could have been better edited.
April 24, 2025
All the editing mistakes aside, quite an informative book on the political history of Bihar and the events that shaped it till 2015
July 31, 2016
I had started this book quite a few months ago but due to some reason had discontinued it. This time I decided to pick it up and finish it in one go.
As pretty much clear from the title, the book describes the entire political journey of Bihar- The predominant Congress rule till its fall 1990, the JP movement, socialist rule under Karpoori Thakur, the rise of Lalu and the 15 years of Lalu-Rabdi Jungle raaj that reduced the state's reputation to ashes due to the bureaucratic and law-and-order carnage, the rise of Nitish, vernacularisation of Politics by both Lalu and Nitish and the recent rise of BJP in Bihar (the book was written before the 2015 Assembly Polls in Bihar).
One thing that I really liked in this book is that instead of describing all the events chronically, the author has decided to arrange chapters according to a topic/event/political figure which have proved to be a turning point in the history of Bihar. This makes sure that if Lalu-Rabdi misrule and Nitish's efforts to revive the economic and social fabric of the state have been elaborated in detail, figures like Paswan, Jiten Ram Manjhi and events like BJP-JDU split and reconciliation of JDU-RJD have also been given proper coverage and attention.
Bihar's history cannot be narrated without the mention of Lalu and as expected, 6 chapters have been exclusively dedicated to him. His hilarious antics, MY (Muslim Yadav) politics, his peculiar ways of connecting with the masses while breaking all protocols, his rustic banter, stopping of Advani's chariot, nepotism, scams and scandals have been put down with proper details with numerous references. Some spine chilling account of murders and kidnappings during the "jungle raaj" also find a space in the book, inevitably. Moving ahead, the author scans the political history of Nitish, who though started his journey with Lalu and his party, is poles apart from the RJD chief and had brought the agenda of "Development" for the first time in a state where everything has a caste angle and casteism is deeply entrenched in the political fabric. The various "Social Engineering" approaches used by Nitish have also been mentioned very profoundly and the author also doesn't miss to point out various loopholes and failures in execution of numerous projects started by Nitish, making the book a real unbiased account.
The author, Santosh Singh, is an Assistant Editor at Indian Express and himself has been a witness of many events in the book. He deserves all the accolades for the meticulous research he has done to put together multiple references and gather anecdotes from the popular as well as thew tainted political figures of Bihar. Though I must mention that the book needs better editing and perhaps a tighter narrative.
For more interesting reviews, please follow my blog- https://thebooktrack.wordpress.com/
Also join our facebook group for Freak Deals on books, recommendations, discussions and connect to readers from all across the world- https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebo...
As pretty much clear from the title, the book describes the entire political journey of Bihar- The predominant Congress rule till its fall 1990, the JP movement, socialist rule under Karpoori Thakur, the rise of Lalu and the 15 years of Lalu-Rabdi Jungle raaj that reduced the state's reputation to ashes due to the bureaucratic and law-and-order carnage, the rise of Nitish, vernacularisation of Politics by both Lalu and Nitish and the recent rise of BJP in Bihar (the book was written before the 2015 Assembly Polls in Bihar).
One thing that I really liked in this book is that instead of describing all the events chronically, the author has decided to arrange chapters according to a topic/event/political figure which have proved to be a turning point in the history of Bihar. This makes sure that if Lalu-Rabdi misrule and Nitish's efforts to revive the economic and social fabric of the state have been elaborated in detail, figures like Paswan, Jiten Ram Manjhi and events like BJP-JDU split and reconciliation of JDU-RJD have also been given proper coverage and attention.
Bihar's history cannot be narrated without the mention of Lalu and as expected, 6 chapters have been exclusively dedicated to him. His hilarious antics, MY (Muslim Yadav) politics, his peculiar ways of connecting with the masses while breaking all protocols, his rustic banter, stopping of Advani's chariot, nepotism, scams and scandals have been put down with proper details with numerous references. Some spine chilling account of murders and kidnappings during the "jungle raaj" also find a space in the book, inevitably. Moving ahead, the author scans the political history of Nitish, who though started his journey with Lalu and his party, is poles apart from the RJD chief and had brought the agenda of "Development" for the first time in a state where everything has a caste angle and casteism is deeply entrenched in the political fabric. The various "Social Engineering" approaches used by Nitish have also been mentioned very profoundly and the author also doesn't miss to point out various loopholes and failures in execution of numerous projects started by Nitish, making the book a real unbiased account.
The author, Santosh Singh, is an Assistant Editor at Indian Express and himself has been a witness of many events in the book. He deserves all the accolades for the meticulous research he has done to put together multiple references and gather anecdotes from the popular as well as thew tainted political figures of Bihar. Though I must mention that the book needs better editing and perhaps a tighter narrative.
For more interesting reviews, please follow my blog- https://thebooktrack.wordpress.com/
Also join our facebook group for Freak Deals on books, recommendations, discussions and connect to readers from all across the world- https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebo...
November 2, 2015
Absorbing story of a benighted state and its political history and dynamics... but the narrative could have been tighter..
December 30, 2015
The book delivers what it promised-an objective analysis of Bihar politics from time/time and helps to understand how it evolved today.
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September 1, 2021A political book but discusses how caste and politics are interwoven and he mostly honest.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews