Bihar Wakes Up with Women’s Hockey to Outside World
Japan players arrive at Patna Airport to take part in Bihar Asian Hockey Championship. Image credit X.com @IPRDBihar
Nitish Kumar Seeks Rajgir Floodlight to Shine Image Ahead of Assembly Elections
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 11: Around noon on Monday, Bihar will announce its arrival to the international sporting world. Once South Korea and Japan players go rolling the plastic ball with their hockey sticks in Rajgir, Bihar will breathe fresh air.
The Women’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy is beginning from Monday in Rajgir in the picturesque backdrop of the ancient ruins. Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodh Gaya, in close vicinity of each other, have long been urging upon the political leadership to recall the golden days of Bihar.
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Rajgir had been capital of the mighty Mouryan emperors. The Muslim invaders turned the treasures of three cities into ruins. Independent India almost forgot them. They finally found attention after Nitish Kumar with political roots in Nalanda gained eminence in the state and the national politics.
In 2022, Bihar spent ₹30 crores on sports. “The Sports Budget in Bihar multiplied by 16 times in two years. The total Sports Budget for 2024 in Bihar was ₹480 crores,” said the Bihar government in curtain raiser to the unveiling of the hockey event in Rajgir.
Understandably, much of the sporting budget would have been spent in preparations for the Women’s Asian Hockey Championship. Bihar in the last two years has been paying attention to sports. Last year, Bihar won 74 medals in the National School Game.
The revival of coalition politics on the national stage has arguably come as a boon for Bihar. The chief minister is making good use of the dependency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the support of the Janata Dal (United).
Gaya is at the centre stage of an industrial node. The eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor of the Railways, connecting Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in Punjab, is potentially poised to spur the next leg of industrialisation. The Railways aims to raise its freight share from the current 26 per cent to over 40 per cent in the next two decades.
Gaya is at the mid-section of the eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor of the Railways. The Bihar chief minister is in a hurry to polish his development-oriented image. In another one year, Kumar will face the Assembly elections.
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The washing away of several bridges had left him ashen faced in recent months. Kumar hopes that the flood-lit street in Rajgir will shine his image. In 2020 Assembly elections, Chirag Paswan with his anti-Nitish Kumar campaign had sunk the JD (U) tally to the lowest level at 43 seats. His party had lost whopping 28 Assembly seats five years ago.
Prashant Kishor, election strategist-turned-politician, is now donning the role of Chirag Paswan. The Bihar chief minister is in dire needs to showcase Rajgir. He has to claim finally helping the state break off from the dark days that prevailed over the state since 1990s when each lane and bylane boasted of dreaded criminals.
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