Bihar Politics: Who will be the real contest in Bihar elections? Two big names in discussion, political stir intensifies

The upcoming Bihar assembly elections are likely to be a contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Modi has held several meetings in the state and listed the achievements of the government, while Rahul Gandhi is focusing on attracting NDA voters. In the 2020 elections, the NDA got a marginal majority, due to which both the leaders are active for the 2025 elections.

Signs are indicating that this time the Bihar assembly elections will be between two big national leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the lead on behalf of the NDA, while former Congress national president Rahul Gandhi is trying to keep the command of the opposition grand alliance in his hands.

It is the increased interest of these two leaders in the Bihar elections that Modi has come to Bihar thrice in the five months of this year. Rahul Gandhi has visited four times. On June 6, he is going to come to Bihar for the fifth time. If we look at the details of Modi's Bihar visits in the last six months, then he has come to Bihar for the fourth time in this period.

The results of the 2020 assembly elections can be seen in the background of the activism of both the big leaders in Bihar. In that election, Modi came to Bihar four times between 23 and 3 November (2020). He addressed a total of 12 meetings.

The Corona period was going on then, so arrangements were made to listen to the speech apart from the main meeting place. Hundreds of LED screens were installed in the respective assembly constituencies for one meeting. If these claims made by the BJP are true, then people listened to PM Modi at 12 hundred places.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi came three times. He addressed eight meetings. When the assembly results came, the NDA got a working majority to come to power. The NDA got 125 seats in the 243-member assembly. The Grand Alliance remained away from power by winning 110 seats. This figure of the 2025 assembly elections has made the ruling and the opposition very active.

No direct appeal to vote

In the rallies held so far in the state this year, Modi did not directly appeal to vote for the assembly elections, but in every rally he is counting the achievements of the central and state government like in election rallies. In the same proportion, he is attacking the Congress and more so the main opposition party RJD.

He is telling how beneficial and necessary the double engine government is for Bihar. In the rally of Bikramganj, he divided the 20 years of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's rule into two parts and listed the achievements. The meaning of his saying was that development was already happening in Bihar.

After the formation of the NDA government at the center in 2014, the pace of development in the state increased. In the first nine years of Nitish Kumar's 20-year tenure, there was a UPA government at the center. When Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Nitish Kumar was his staunch opponent.

Rahul is criticizing the government

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi's four visits so far this year have been focused on the objective of attracting NDA's base voters to the opposition.

He is addressing the Scheduled Castes and people from backward, extremely backward and minority communities. His fifth visit may be to address the Extremely Backward Class Conference organized in Rajgir of Nalanda district on June 6.

Yes, there is a fundamental difference between the visits of Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. In Modi's programs, leaders of all the constituent parties of the NDA are present on the stage. This scene is not there on Rahul's stage. Only the leaders of Congress and its mass organizations are present on his stage.

A coordination committee of the Grand Alliance has been formed. The leaders of the constituent parties hold joint press conferences together. It is difficult to say whether Tejashwi Yadav will be present on Rahul Gandhi's stage in every meeting even during the assembly elections. Because this did not happen in the 2020 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Lok Sabha elections disappointed

Despite achieving a difficult victory in the 2020 assembly elections, the NDA could not improve its performance in the 2020 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, the NDA had won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats. In five years, nine of these seats were lost. The opposition won a total of 10 seats. This was its big achievement.

However, if the NDA's lead in the assembly seats during the Lok Sabha elections is repeated in the assembly elections, then it will not have any problem in forming the next government in the state.

By the way, the morale of the NDA has increased due to the results of the by-elections held on four assembly seats. After the Lok Sabha elections, NDA candidates won the by-elections in Belagnj, Tarari, Ramgarh and Imamganj assembly constituencies.