ABSTRACT
In the Hindi belt, Bihar has experienced, as any other state, the crucial role played by the electoral system in loosening the rigid hierarchical structure of status and power in the traditional social order and promoting political integration within the framework of secular authority (Krishna 1967). But, observers pay less attention to changes within the Bihar society (known as the poorest, most criminalised and most backward state in India), than to indicators of persisting under-development.
