India, Sept. 17 -- Bihar's economic backwardness is neither a sudden accident nor a mere result of contemporary neglect. Its roots run deep, back to the British colonial era, when exploitative land policies and extractive governance crippled the region's prosperity. The decline worsened after independence, when successive governments failed to industrialise Bihar or develop its fragile infrastructure. What was once one of the richest cultural and intellectual centres of India gradually slipped into stagnation. Bihar's political class cannot be absolved. Too often, electoral victories and sharp punchlines took precedence over good governance. The "jungle raj" era, where lawlessness was almost celebrated, further eroded the credibility of t...