Protests and demonstrations have trailed Nitish Kumar ever since he embarked on the 45-day-long roadshow at Bettiah on the Bihar-Nepal border on September 19. Protests and demonstrations have trailed Nitish Kumar ever since he embarked on the 45-day-long roadshow at Bettiah on the Bihar-Nepal border on September 19.

Former railway minister Lalu Prasad claims that popular mood has turned against the Nitish Kumar for his failure to curb corruption and to rein in bureaucracy. Former railway minister Lalu Prasad claims that popular mood has turned against the Nitish Kumar for his failure to curb corruption and to rein in bureaucracy.

Adhikar Yatra, being undertaken by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to pile up pressure on the Centre to accord "special category" status to Bihar, has been converted into a platform for people to vent their anger against the state government.Protests and demonstrations have trailed the chief minister ever since he embarked on the 45-day-long roadshow at Bettiah on the Bihar-Nepal border on September 19. It started with black flag demonstrations by contract teachers at Madhubani on September 23, and has followed him practically everywhere.On October 9, efforts by the Nawada district administration to sanitise the venue of his public meeting failed, as a section of the crowd pelted stones, hurled slippers and parts of broken chairs at the chief minister as he made his way to the dais.While the ruling JD(U) blames the RJD for engineering the protests, former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav claims that popular mood has turned against the Nitish Kumar for his failure to curb corruption and to rein in bureaucracy."There is rampant corruption in welfare schemes and law and order situation has worsened considerably. Not a single paisa of investment has come into the state in the last seven years. Development has taken a back seat. Indeed, it's only campaign rhetoric," the RJD chief told India Today on Sunday.Notwithstanding the claims and counter-claims, the fact remains that it is for the first time in his seven-year-long stint as Bihar chief minister that Kumar has been confronted with popular disaffection. And this does not portend well for the JD(U)-BJP alliance. "Things have deteriorated considerably. Earlier, we used to get power supply for at least 20 hours. Now, we get power for only 8 hours. The condition of roads within Patna is pathetic. They promised to build a road along the Ganges, but there was no follow-up action. Criminal activities have gone up," claims Safdar Reyaz, a 35-year-old contractor from Sultanganj."Promises have remained unfulfilled in almost all sectors," adds Anay Kumar, a student of mass communication from Nalanda Open University. "Resources have not been spent properly. A survey published recently by a local daily said that 60 per cent of the students in government-run primary schools cannot count from one to 100, and cannot recognise alphabets. Corruption has not only become all-pervasive, it has also become systematic."Rather than addressing the problems, the state administration has gone on an overdrive to prevent people from coming anywhere close to the chief minister during public meetings. Wary of recurrent black flag demonstrations, the state government directed the district administration to bar anyone sporting a black dress to attend the rallies addressed by Nitish Kumar.At Nawada in south Bihar on October 9, girls were asked to take off their black dupattas, and youth wearing black, or even deep blue T-shirts, were turned back from the venue. The move was decried by Lalu Prasad Yadav. "Hum kaale hain to kya hua dil waale hain, hum tumko satta se hatane waale hain (It doesn't matter if we are dark, we'll remove you from power)," the RJD chief said in Patna on Wednesday.