By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Though the BJP has been raising its pitch on the issue of Bangladeshi Muslims infiltrators, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) has said that they have found illegal infiltrators name during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Electoral Roll, Hindutva is yet to emerge as a core issue in Bihar election to be held within three months from now. INDIA blocs social justice plank, joblessness among youth, and Dalit and OBC politics seems to be dominant factors. Politics revolving round women’s welfare is also slowly emerging as an issue.
Only a week is left for the completion of the first round of enrolment of voters under the SIR as per the deadline of July 25. ECI has said on July 19, 2025 that it has already received forms of 90.12 per cent of voters. There were 7.8 crore registered voters in the latest electoral roll that was discarded on June 24 in favour of the electoral roll of 2003 as the basis of creation of the Revised Electoral Roll 2025 for the state.
ECI has received 7.11 crore forms so far, and it has already digitized 6.85 crore of them. As per the ECI, 36.86 lakh voters, which is about 4.67 per cent of the total, appear to be either deceased, permanently shifted, or registered in multiple places. The number of not traceable voters are 6,978, which is about 0.01 per cent. ECI expects to complete the process by the deadline, and will be sharing the list with all political parties. This draft list would be published on August 1, and then claims and objections will begin. By September 25, the process will be completed and on September 30 final list will be published.
Though a great tension is prevailing among the people and political parties in Bihar on the prospect of deletion of millions of voters, since a deletion of around 3000 votes per constituency may impact the outcome of the electoral prospects of the political parties, it is still uncertain which way the result will go. It is chiefly because, large number of voters supporting all political parties, including BJP, JD(U), and LJP(RV) in the ruling NDA, and the INDIA bloc parties.
It is a general belief that INDIA bloc parties will be more adversely impacted by the deletion of the voters than the NDA parties, but this is not the only factor in the forthcoming election. RSS-BJP clan has presumed that the electoral roll cleaning exercise by ECI would help them creating a Hindutva wave in the state, but the political situation is yet to turn this way. BJP leadership is therefore refocusing on the other factors which are still dominant in Bihar the most backward state in the development ladder in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in the state on July 18, is a case in point. He harped on the development and unemployment of youth in the state. During the election season in Bihar, it has suddenly occurred to him that Bihar needs development and the unemployed youth of the states need jobs and financial assistance. He said that during the RJD and Congress rule development of Bihar stuck and deteriorated.
In his fifth visit in poll bound Bihar, PM Modi unveiled multiple projects worth over Rs7,200 crore and flagged off four Amrit Bharat Express trains. Since Bihar is the least developed state in the country, and its migrant workers face great hardship in train journey and even lose their lives in stampedes while returning home during festivals, both the steps of the prime minister have political significance.
He mentioned several welfare schemes of the Centre and States NDA governments for “development of Bihar” criticizing the former governments. But people of Bihar know that it is not INDIA bloc parties who are ruling the state for the last 20 years, but it is JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. If in the last 20 years of his rule, and with the support of BJP, there is no development of Bihar, what is the face value of Modi’s promise for “development of Bihar” and making of a “New Bihar”?
Not only the development is a core issue, but also the social justice to Dalits and OBCs has emerged as one of the core issues. PM Modi has just noted this political development and promised in his speech, “Har pichade ko prathamikta” (priority to every backward).
He mentioned the welfare schemes, such as PM Kisan, under which, he said 3.6 lakh crore rupees were given to farmers. He promised to identify 100 poor districts in the state for development.
The he came to another cores issue of unemployment which has been agitating the youths of Bihar for quite some time. He said that his government has will be launching a scheme from August 1, and will be giving Rs 15,000 to youth in their first job in private sector. Central government plans to invest Rs 1 lakh crore in this scheme, and “Bihar’s youth will also greatly benefit from this initiative.”
Nevertheless, youth of Bihar know the hollowness of the claim, since the ELI scheme under which such a financial assistance was promised to the youth of Bihar, has actually remained non-starter since its announcement in the Union Budget 2024-25. PM Modi said that Opposition RJD had seized land from the poor on the false promise of jobs.” It is worth recalling here that Nitish Kumar government has recently announced to provide 1 crore jobs to youth is the state in next five years.
“Those in the RJD can never give you jobs. They are the ones who seize your land in exchange for job promises. Remember, one side was the old Bihar stuck in the era of lanterns (a reference to the RJD’s symbol), and on the other side is this vibrant Bihar full of new hope and ambition. This transformation has happened by walking hand-in-hand with the NDA. Therefore, Bihar’s resolve is firm, every moment with the NDA,” PM Modi said.
On the other hand, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been saying that during his 17 months as Deputy CM, before Nitish changed sides and joined NDA, the government provided four lakh jobs and could have done more had he completed his term.
PM Modi did not forget women of Bihar, who have been playing important role in electing their governments, as it has been seen across the country. He mentioned Jan Dhan Scheme and said about 3.5 crore women in Bihar have these accounts, allowing direct transfer of government scheme benefits. He also tried to tempt women referring women empowerment, “Tremendous results have come out of women empowerment as over 20 lakh women have become “lakhpati didis”(millionaire elder sisters).
Dalit and OBC politics in the state remains the political core of the state. It is by and large felt in favour of the INDIA bloc. Bangladeshi Muslim issue seems to be failing in arresting this political trend, since Hindutva is yet to become a core issue in the state. Bihar is heading towards a tough electoral battle between INDIA bloc and the NDA, political outcome of which is currently unpredictable. (IPA Service)
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