Patna, July 17: The House was united. Bihar has the potential to rise from the ashes, it roared.

The motion of The Telegraph Bihar Debate 2015 - In the Opinion of the House, A Resurgent Bihar is an Impossible Dream - was defeated with almost negligible opposition. Live examples of Bihar's resurgence were Dhananjay and Sanjit - the students of Anand Kumar of Super 30 fame. The duo made it to the IITs fighting all the odds.

The fifth edition of The Telegraph Bihar Debate held in Patna on Friday had all the colours of a well-contested battle with a clearly evident tinge of politics. Eight eminent personalities prepared with in-depth research and thorough homework, divided in two groups, engaged in the verbal match and volley of arguments and counter-arguments over the future of Bihar.

Speaking in favour of the motion or those sceptical about resurgence of the state were Dr Ajay Alok, the young spokesperson of the JDU, Suraj Kumar, chief mentor of the Neeti Foundation, president of the Indian Sociological Society Anand Kumar (formerly of JNU and a founding-member of AAP) and Super 30 founder Anand Kumar.

Pitted against them were Rukmini Banerji of Pratham, cardiac surgeon and Patna's leading culture impresario Dr Ajit Pradhan, Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan and BJP's national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi.

With the state elections round the corner, all that everyone is talking about is how the future of the state would be shaped in the coming years amid slogans like "Badh Chala Bihar..." and "...Aao Badle Bihar" screaming loud from the life-sized hoardings all across the city. And when The Telegraph's Roving Editor Sankarshan Thakur, the moderator, asked the audience who had won, the show of hands was overwhelmingly for the team of Sudhanshu, Dr Ajit, Chirag and Rukmini.

The belief of a rising Bihar was given a clear-cut majority by the audience during the voting motion following the debate.

Dr Ajay opened the debate by attacking the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to the electorate in the past 15 months after coming to power at the Centre. "The Bihar model of growth is being talked about across the globe. If intelligent people believe that resurgence of the state would be difficult under the leadership of Nitish, then a resurgent Bihar would be an impossible dream," said Dr Ajay.

Dr Ajay's counterpart in the BJP, Sudhanshu Trivedi, countered his views.

"Bihar was at the helm of all big events whenever the country witnessed any major change in recent history. Bihar has not only given the first republic to the world but the first secular state as well," said Sudhanshu. The BJP spokesperson also made pun of frequent resurgence of Janata parivar and how it benefited his party.

The verbal attack on the ideology of a "resurging Bihar" was carried forward with an insightful speech by sociologist Anand Kumar. "The idea of resurgent Bihar is facing double threat from caste and communality. Good governance is a daily struggle and the state faces a vicious cycle of poverty. Resurgent Bihar is not possible in the near future," he said.

Dr Ajit's groundwork for the debate was evident when he showed a bundle of 2,000 questionnaires filled by his patients on the issues related to the growth of the state. "Bihar has dominated the country right from the time of

Chandragupta Maurya and Buddha till the recent past. Bihar is already resurgent and it has the potential to accelerate the momentum of revival but we need to have patience," said Dr Ajit.

Anand Kumar of Super 30 was clearly the showstopper. He started his argument against the motion by introducing his two students - Dhananjay and Sanjit. They have made it to the IITs fighting all the odds. Dhananjay's father runs a small grocery shop in Samastipur and has five children. Sanjit's father, on the other hand, is a porter.

"Rather than asking for votes by knocking on the doors, the JDU should ask whether schools and hospitals opened in the areas concerned. Instead of launching 160 Parivartan Raths, the BJP should have rolled out ambulances or Shiksha Raths. Today's voters cannot be fooled by false promises," said Anand.

Chirag took over the baton from Anand. "Bihar has a rich history and it has the potential to create a brighter future. The people of the state should select the right leaders, who have the right intention to work," said Chirag

Suraj Kumar, who is writing a book on resurgence of Indian states, launched a withering attack on those believing in resurgence of Bihar by stating that his assertion against resurgent Bihar is not based on mere cynicism but it rests on facts and hard evidence. "Bihar is far behind the national average in the sector of health education and quality of life. Resurgence of Bihar is not happening in agriculture and industrial sectors as well, nor in the villages," said Suraj.

The debate over the resurgence of the state concluded with a lively speech against the motion by Rukmini, a renowned name in the field of promotion of elementary education in the country. With major emphasis on women empowerment, Rukmini claimed that Bihar has witnessed several waves of development in the past 10-15 years. "Women empowerment is imperative for a resurgent Bihar. The rate with which the difference between male and female literacy is reducing is commendable," said Rukmini.