Can they fall any lower?

In a comparison between slums in Patna in Bihar, and in Bengaluru in Karnataka, Downs-Tipper and Rains found that, while there were no cases in Patna, "There are contrasting livelihood situations, with an uptrend in Bengaluru and creeping hopelessness in Patna." "The average slum household has 4.4 members in Bengaluru and 6.4 members in Patna, and has, respectively, 1.9 and 1.7 earning members." That maybe because, at 26.8%, Bihar has the highest rate of illiteracy in women and the highest fertility rate in India at 3.2%. Naturally, "The average monthly income of a slum household was more than Rs 23,000 in Bengaluru and just about Rs 17,000 in Patna." "Less well off to begin with, Patna's slum residents were hit harder economically." "Because of unrelenting hardship they have faced, an overwhelming majority in Patna's slums expect that three months, or even six months, from now things will still be worse than before the pandemic." That is bad news because assembly elections are expected to be held in Bihar by the middle of October. At present the government in Bihar is formed by Janata Dal (United) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why don't they dish out largesse as politicians do before elections? The Bihar government has no money, partly because Kumar promised prohibition of alcohol to get votes in 2015 election. Whenever there is prohibition it is an invitation to smugglers to make money. Men die from drinking locally brewed alcohol from dubious sources. Following the lockdown in March at least 1.5 million migrants returned home to Bihar. "The state government has been losing in upward of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) annually since the alcohol ban in the state since 2016," wrote Prof Guru Prakash. That is over Rs 200 billion in lost revenue in 5 years. "The already burdened judiciary in the state has to deal with the additional 200,000 prohibition related matters. The crime rate has grown manifold contrary to the popular narrative that the ban has contributed towards peace and stability." So, less tax collection and greater spending on policing and prison population. Of course, Modi did announce a fisheries scheme over the next 4-5 years but how they will cultivate fish in the middle of slums is not clear. If there is no money you have to divert people's attention. A young actor from Bihar committed suicide in his flat in Mumbai in June. Two of his friends were sharing the flat and they did not notice anything untoward and his room was locked from inside. Despite that, first the Enforcement Directorate (ED), then the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and now the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have been hounding a young Bengali actress called Rhea Chakraborty for over two months. Congress Party activists in Bengal have been protesting against this intimidation of Rhea. Assembly election in Bengal is to be held by April-May 2021. Will the harassment of Rhea on frivolous charges be a reason for assaults on Biharis in Bengal remains to be seen. Win election but lose the nation. We can only mourn.