Perhaps never in recent political history the chief minister of a state has been charged with plagiarism, by none else but the author of a book. And the man who is being held responsible for this act of omission is none else but the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Incidentally the book was released by Lord Meghnad Desai of London School of Economics in Patna on May 15, that is, a day before the announcements of the results of the parliamentary elections.
When the news broke late on May 14 evening, that is a day before the release, in Delhi and later in Patna, the people were shocked and refused to believe it. But the argument and claim put forward by Atul Kumar Singh, a senior researcher of New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University was too convincing to be rejected. He was backed by his guide in JNU, Pravin Jha. Not only Atul sent a notice to the chief minister, but also the Asian Development Research institute (ADRI), which published the book named Special Category Status: A Case For Bihar. He also warned the chief minister of legal action and released his own thesis on May 14 night itself in Jawaharlal Nehru University. The letter said that “This claim of Shri Nitish Kumar is a clear violation of individual rights as scholar and an author.”
Atul sent the copy of his letter to various newspaper offices and television channels in Delhi as well as Patna on May 14, a day before the release of the book by Lord Desai in Patna. However, on Thursday night the newspapers and channels were pressurized not to carry this news. Phone calls flooded their offices in Patna. But Hindustan Times (New Delhi datelined) and ETV were among the prominent news houses which dared to carry the news. It was literally a sleepless night for the ADRI’s Director Saibal Gupta, who indulged in the damage control exercise.
The media in Bihar, which had been discussing various aspects of the book before its release were informed by the organisers late on May 14 night that Nitish had actually endorsed it and that he was not its author. What is curious is that on May 14 morning the Press Trust of India released a story quoting chief minister that he had written a book on Bihar’s backwardness. “I have written a book on the conditions prevailing in the state and to convince the nation about the need for granting special status to Bihar.” This is the exact words of the chief minister in the morning while late on night the organizers said that he was endorsing the book and that he was not its author.
The impact of Hindustan Times and ETV news was such that on May 15 morning it was rumoured in the media circles that the chief minister might not actually attend the book release function. But he finally turned up and spoke on the neglect of Bihar by successive central governments – obviously the NDA too, which was in power for six years and in which he was an important minister.
ADRI’s director, Saibal Gupta, who was caught on the wrong foot said that “Atul has copied the book from us.” But the truth is that Atul’s work came out much earlier and how can a researcher in Delhi copy a book written by none else but the chief minister of a state. Is it so easy? It is true that Atul, being from Bihar, visited Patna several times in course of his research. He used to come to ADRI and even submitted a copy of his research work to it.
Its director Saibal Gupta, now very close to Nitish, deemed it fit to earn the chief minister’s favour. He never expected that a lesser known researcher like Atul would ever dare to challenge a much sought after chief minister who has become a favourite for a section of media. But Atul is no small fry. His mother and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former Union minister and BJP’s spokesman, are cousins. He comes from Saran district, from where Lalu Prasad contested the election. Atul unsuccessfully contested assembly election as independent candidate in Bihar in 2005.
ADRI, the research institute established by late journalist, Arvind Narayan Das, and Muchkund Dubey, former foreign secretary of India, has now become a sort of personal fiefdom of Saibal Gupta. From 2007-08 it has started publishing the Economic Survey of Bihar. In the financial year 2007-08 the Survey highlighted that Bihar achieved the growth rate of 16 per cent, when the fact was that it was much slower than the previous years. In fact the state witnessed over 24 per cent fall in the food grains production in the same year. Various economists of the state pooh-poohed this Survey but the media chose to black out their version as it challenged the state government.
What happened on the book release day in Patna on May 15 is even more interesting. Only one copy was available for release and those present were not given any copies. It is said that the cover page of one copy was replaced and in place of author’s name it was written “endorsed by Nitish Kumar”.
The whole drama took place only five days after Nitish clasped the hand of Narendra Modi in Ludhiana on May 10 and earned a lot of criticism. It is not that he had not shaken hands with any Sangh Parivar leader. Some months back he shared dais with the then RSS chief, Sudarshan in Patna. In fact Sudarshan became the first Sangh Parivar head to visit the official residence of Bihar chief minister.
What Nitish has been doing as a politician can be defended by his supporters. He has every right to hold certain views and share platform with the Sangh Parivar bigwigs. But can a chief minister of his stature become so much publicity crazy that he indulges in plagiarism? Nobody, not even his ardent admirer, is supporting him on this issue. But his admirers on their part are holding Saibal Gupta more responsible for this mess.