All eyes on Bihar elections 2025 as campaign enters final stretch

Home Minister Amit Shah, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and BJP President JP Nadda, From left to right: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, LoP Tejaswi Yadav, and CPI (M) Senior Leader Brinda Karat. Pics/PTI

With just four days to go before Bihar heads to the polls, the political battlefield is heating up with fiery speeches and last-ditch promises.

The state is witnessing a high-voltage campaign as leaders from across the spectrum - from Nitish Kumar, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda to Priyanka Gandhi - descend upon Bihar to rally support for their parties.

The NDA and BJP are doubling down on their governance record and development claims, while the RJD, JD(U), and Congress sharpen their attacks over unemployment, inflation, and law and order.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday urged people to once again vote for the NDA in the upcoming assembly polls for faster development of the state.
In a video message uploaded by his party, Janta Dal (United) (JD(U)), on social media on Saturday, Kumar also said that law and order has "remarkably improved" in the state after his government came to power in November 2005.

"People knew Bihar's situation before we came to power in 2005. We prioritised the restoration of law and order and established the rule of law in the state. Now, being a Bihari is a matter of pride for the residents of the state," the chief minister said.

To which BJP President JP Nadda added that the opposing Rashtriya Janata Dal wants to bring back "jungle raj" in Bihar if it is voted to power. He said, "[Under RJD] Law and order had collapsed, and along with that, an industry of kidnapping started growing here. Siwan had witnessed the terror of [late gangster-turned-politician] Sahabuddin, and once again, RJD nominated his son in the assembly polls. Lalu Prasad's party wants to bring ‘jungle raj' back to Bihar," he alleged.

The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with results set to be announced on November 14.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked the NDA dispensation in Bihar over unemployment and migration issues at a rally at Begusarai. She said, "They first divided people, went to war, but couldn't divert attention from real issues, so they are now stealing votes."

"There is no double-engine [government] in Bihar, but only a single engine...everything is controlled from Delhi. Neither are you being heard nor is your CM Nitish Kumar respected," the Congress MP claimed.

She claimed that the BJP only resorts to blaming Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. "Let me also talk about the past. Who set up the factories? Who established IITs and IIMs? The answer is the Congress and Nehru ji," she claimed.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), which is a part of the opposition INDIA bloc, on Saturday issued its manifesto in Bihar. Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said, "The NDA has been running a negative campaign, pointing fingers at the opposition, which was perhaps inevitable since they have nothing to showcase by way of achievements in the two decades they have been in power in Bihar."

Referring to the killing of Jan Suraaj Party supporter Dular Chand Yadav in Mokama, where supporters of the deceased have been alleging the complicity of local JD(U) candidate and former MLA Anant Singh, Karat said that "The incident is proof that mafia raj and jungle raj prevail in Bihar under the NDA."

Karat said her party's manifesto was in line with the INDIA bloc's commitment to ensuring employment generation in Bihar.

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