Bihar’s famous culinary offering is Litti Chokha, but for a while on Friday, one could be mistaken thinking it is laddoos. Sweets rained down by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), especially Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters. The Bihar Foundation is a diaspora cell of the Bihar government under the department of industries. The foundation’s Mumbai (Maharashtra) chapter is one of 20 across India. In an interview, its spokesperson, Manoj Singh Rajput, speaks to mid-day about polls, transformation, migration, Biharis in Mumbai, and a win for the ages and history pages. Excerpts from an interview:

Dubbing the victory as landslide and sweeping is all very well, but what does the Bihar mandate really tell us?
The win was expected, but these numbers are mind-boggling. This is a: ‘go for women’s security,’ ‘go for law & order,’ ‘go for development’ win.
 
When you say go for women’s security, there was also Rs 10,000 given monthly to every woman...
That was not a factor. It is improved law and order that brought in the votes. Today, women can walk alone in Patna at 11 pm; this was unthinkable. Girls were also earlier afraid of forced marriages, often facilitated by kidnapping. Today, we see a change in that, too. Just like the women of Madhya Pradesh used to refer to former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan as mamaji, women in Bihar see Nitish Kumarji as part of their family. They have family bonds.