Arun Mishra
THE first phase of Bihar assembly election 2025 ended with massive turn out of voters which surpassed all the previous records providing the two contending formations Mahagathbandhan and NDA to interpret it in their own way. What is the ground report and the reports gathered form independent news portals, videos and the political workers, activists working at the ground level?
The enthusiasm of general voters particularly Gen Z was not only visible but they were also vocal about voting in favour of those who have promised to provide jobs, quality public education, health service and other pro-people policies.
PROTEST AGAINST SIR
The surge in voters’ participation is not accidental, but it started with the participation of common Bihari masses in the statewide protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in a one-month time frame. Exposures of Election Commission for its complicity in stealing votes from Karnataka to Maharashtra by the opposition leader in Parliament Rahul Gandhi made the people of Bihar smell a conspiracy to steal votes in Bihar through deletion of legitimate voters. “Vote Chor-Gaddi Chhod” became the rallying slogan all over Bihar during the 13-days journey undertaken under the leadership of Mahagathbandhan constituents. The Election Commission failed in its effort to befool the people as it had to some extent bow before the direction of the Supreme Court.
But the final list of electoral rolls made it clear that names of a large number of legitimate voters had been deleted and names of even dead persons and fake voters had been included. Such brazen partisanship of the Election Commission further strengthened the impression that it was operating hand in glove with BJP.
The anger, along with the changed, issue-based narrative, is going to write a new chapter in the politics of Bihar which is seen only through the prism of caste and communities.
In the above-mentioned scenario one can definitely say that despite all the dirty back-room politics led by Amit Shah and the madness of the PM in repeating all the divisive agendas in his armoury, voters of Bihar are going to punish the NDA.
CPI(M) CANDIDATES
In the first phase CPI(M)’s three candidates Com. Ajay Kumar in Vibhutipur, Dr Satyendra Yadav in Manjhi and Shyam Bharti in Hayaghat, were in the fray. Reports from all the three constituencies are very positive and indicate that they are all going to be elected. Satyendra Yadav was brutally attacked by the BJP goons while he was travelling from one booth to another on polling day. He narrowly escaped unhurt but the car in which he was travelling was damaged. We had only one candidate in Pipra in the second phase of election on November 11, where vigorous campaign was carried out. Polit Bureau members A Vijay Raghwan, Amra Ram, Salim and former PB member Subhashini Ali had already addressed mass and cadres meeting. The situation in Pipra is also very favourable and we can hope to get this seat too. In the previous assembly election, our candidate Raj Mangal Prasad lost narrowly. On November 9, Misa Bharti, RJD leader and MP addressed a massive public meeting of around 25 thousand people and appealed to vote in favour of Rajmangal Prasad. Lalan Choudhary, State Secretary, Awadhesh Kumar, Central Committee member and others also addressed the meeting.
The last phase of election campaign will be remembered for the foulest languages used by the Prime Minister and his co-campaigners making a mockery of democratic norms and resorting to abuses and personal attacks bereft of any economic and political issues. Prime Minister led his entire band of campaigners in trying to derail the issues of unemployment, education, health, housing, large scale migration by repeating the pet theme of return of Jungle Raj. Attacks on hereditary politics directed against Tejashwi and Rahul Gandhi seemed hollow in the face of the number of family members of BJP and JD(U) in the fray, while HAM and LJP(R), the two other constituents of NDA are nothing but family-based parties. HAM chief has distributed party tickets to his daughter-in-law and mother-in-law of his son and other member of his family.
If one analyses the campaign by NDA in first and second phases, there is a marked difference, with shrill, abusive language becoming sharper and filthier in the second phase. After the first phase, many surveys were conducted and posted on social media on a daily basis. Known faces in journalism, analysts, psephologists etc. are dishing out their own versions to explain the massive turn out of voters in the first phase.
There is news about the survey conducted by RSS which suggests that NDA has lost the first phase. This has made the BJP leadership nervous and now they are trying to make up the gap in the second phase by employing all the dirty tactics in their hands. Home Minister Amit Shah is camping in Bihar and every day directing the bureaucrats to steal the votes in NDA’s favour. How much will they be successful, only the result on November 14 will tell.
The mood of the electorate in the second phase is upbeat, and they are in favour of change. Mahagathbandhan leaders particularly Tejashwi Yadav has beaten all the campaigners by addressing 171 massive meetings covering almost all the constituencies independently and collectively. The assurances of employment have galvanised the youth and their family members to vote in favour of Mahagathbandhan.
The general mood for change has also created rift within the NDA and BJP which had earlier not projected Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister face, but it has now been forced to accept this.
