Bihar elections ::: Do polls 2025 matter beyond just five years ? It's perhaps revealing what twist Sickularim and 'Indian intellectuals' have tried to give ... Should Biharis forget and forgive Jungle Raj ?

Why Bihar voters cannot throw up one Shivraj Singh Chouhan or Yogi Adityanath ?

The first phase of polling is on in Bihar. Votes are being cast in as many as 121 constituencies. 

One of the most keenly watched contests will be in Mokama, where JD(U)’s Anant Singh, who is in jail in connection with the killing of a Jan Suraaj Party supporter during the election campaign, is locked in a straight battle with RJD’s Veena Devi, married to Suraj Bhan, a gangster.  

This is perhaps a reflection of a fact that things remain 'constant' as much as they change. 

The essential debate is whether Nitish Kumar-led NDA should come back. JD-U and BJP have been formidable partners in the state. On the other side what appears most prominently is 'not so much educated' Tejashwi Yadav - son of Lalu Prasad.

Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi gave Bihar 15-years of misgovernance and jungle raj between 1990 and 2005.  

Come to think of it; the Bihar polls of 2025 is most likely one-sided and Nitish Kumar has huge advantage.  The Congress has almost given up and thus as an excuse, Rahul Gandhi and the ecosystem have tried to take the debate to Haryana and even as far as Brazil. Never was the grand old party fighting fit in Bihar.

One could sum up Bihar polls as stories about -- Windows of Opportunities and Doors to hell. It could be other way as well. Doors of Opportunities and window for hell. It all depends on what you play and how you play.

An overwhelming section of intellectuals including hubs such as Modi-hating Kolkata and Sickular urban Naxals in Delhi or Mumbai and Bengaluru are only talking about joblessness. Yes; they could be reminded that during Lalu-Rabri era ... kidnapping was an industry and that gave employment to many. Apparently, in their drive for Modi-hate; these sections do not mind handing over Bihar to Lalu's son.

The joblessness in Bihar is now being solely blamed on the Nitish Kumar regime. The same media and intellectuals did not mention about Joblessness and Migration of Biharis when Nitish was in the opposition camp.

Bihari women doing Chhat Puja in Delhi 

The old script is now stale. But the fact remains Caste matters a lot in Bihar polls especially when it comes to electing the state legislature. During parliamentary polls, 'macho Namo' image could sell rather easily.  

About 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as oppositon's chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and BJP's sitting Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary. 

Yadav aims at a hat-trick in Raghopur, while his principal challenger Satish Kumar of the BJP had defeated his mother Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting on a JD(U) symbol.

The seat was expected to witness a high-voltage contest, with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor declaring that he wanted to take on Yadav on his home turf.

However, Kishor decided not to contest, and his party gave a ticket to a less fancied candidate Chanchal Singh. In adjoining Mahua, Yadav’s estranged elder brother Tej Pratap, who has floated his own outfit Janshakti Janata Dal, is locked in a multi-cornered contest.  

Migration - often a way of life  

  

Several ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, will also have their electoral fates decided in the first phase of polls.

Sinha hopes to retain Lakhisarai for the fourth consecutive term, surmounting the not-so-formidable challenge provided by Amresh Kumar of the Congress and Suraj Kumar of the Jan Suraaj Party.

Choudhary, who is enjoying his second consecutive term in the legislative council, is contesting a direct election after about a decade from Tarapur.

His victory is bound to cement his position in a party which he joined less than a decade ago, but where his political stock has risen rapidly.

The former state BJP president faces a stiff challenge from RJD’s Arun Kumar Sah, who had lost the seat in 2020 by a thin margin of about 5,000 votes.

Somewhat similar to Choudhary’s case is that of Mangal Pandey, a minister and a former state BJP president who is contesting from Siwan, the first instance of his fighting an assembly election.    

"For decades, we have watched our sons and daughters, our fellow Biharis, board trains to distant lands, carrying dreams too large for a state that was never allowed to aspire for itself. 

We have seen, on the one hand, our minerals extracted, our produce harvested, and our artisanal skills marginalised while, on the other hand, the infrastructure crumbles and opportunities wither. This is not our destiny. This is a policy failure spanning generations," says RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha.

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