Patna, April 5: After a tie, the Bihar model of governance lost the battle of becoming the road map of India’s progress.

The state’s model today earned praise from four speakers of The Telegraph Bihar Debate 2013. From four others, it drew flak. Ultimately, the public decided it had to make some improvements to become a benchmark. The motion of The Telegraph Bihar Debate 2013 — In the Opinion of the House, the Bihar Model of Governance is the Future of India — was defeated after a close tie.

Eight eminent personalities engaged in the verbal match and volley of arguments and counter-arguments paved the path for an enriching discussion on the state’s governance. Batting for upholding the Bihar model were diplomat-cum-author Pawan Varma, who now also wears the hat of culture adviser to the Bihar chief minister, Devesh Thakur, JD(U) leader and MLC, Shiv Visvanathan, social anthropologist of world renown, and Imtiaz Ahmad, director of the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library.

Tariq Anwar, Union minister of state for agriculture, D.N. Gautam, former DGP of Bihar, N.K. Choudhary and Shazia Ilmi, member of India Against Corruption, spoke against the motion.

The Telegraph’s Sankarshan Thakur was the moderator.

Socialist Visvanathan opened the “batting” in favour of the motion by comparing the governance models of Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Nitish Kumar. While he claimed that Rahul’s model was just a theory not a model, he cited Modi’s governance as unscientific because of non-inclusiveness.

Eminent professor of Patna University, Choudhary countered Visvanathan’s argument in strong words. He termed Nitish’s model of governance “dictatorship” and claimed that his ministers were extremely inefficient. “The Bihar model of development is no different than the models of Gujarat or any other state,” said Choudhary.

He was counter-attacked by Ahmad. Being a historian, Ahmad went down the lanes of history to support Nitish’s “good governance”.

“The present governance of Bihar is based on inclusive growth and development of justice that differentiates it from the rest of the governance models,” he said.

He finished his speech by applauding Nitish’s brainchild Right to Public Service Act and Right to Information Act.

Former DGP Gautam, who served Nitish’s government, was mild but criticised “susashan” in the most apt manner. “This government is a people-less democracy. The much touted scheme of this government — Shiksha Mitra has turned into shiksha shatru (enemy of education),” he said.

JD(U) leader Thakur boasted Nitish’s government by claiming that the state has risen from nothing to something. He triggered laughter when he quoted former chief minister Lalu Prasad as saying: “Yea moral ground ka hokhela, hum to khali football ground dekhle bani. (What is moral ground? I have only heard about football ground)”

Speaking against, Union minister Anwar criticised Nitish’s government on the grounds of failure in power, education and agriculture sectors.

Former ambassador Varma spoke in favour of the motion in his shayarana (poetic) style, which was well applauded by the audience.

“The difference that the Nitish government has made is that people from the state spread across the globe say with pride that they are Biharis,” he said.

The last one to speak, activist Ilmi, took the crowd on her side through a powerful speech. She claimed that whatever development had been done in the past seven years of Nitish’s government was not sufficient. “The Nitish government has not notified Lokayukta in the past two years. If Nitish says that he has done some work for this state, then it was his duty,” said Ilmi.