New Delhi: The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections are around the corner, and the INDIA bloc is once again trying to make the state a testing ground for opposition unity. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, due to various reasons, a cold conflict was witnessed among the opposition bloc. But after a leap, the alliance is now working to convert the state into a ladder to breach the ruling NDA’s fort.
The focal point of this effort is the ongoing Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’, organised in protest against alleged voter fraud in Bihar. Over the coming days, prominent leaders from the Congress and the INDIA alliance will join the march to bolster solidarity and energise party workers. In today’s DNA, Rahul Sinha, Zee News Managing Editor, analysed the changing dynamics of politics of Bihar:
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Notable participants of the Opposition bloc include Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on 27 August, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on 30 August, and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (date yet to be announced).
From Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will stay in Bihar for two days, August 26 and 27. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on 29 August, alongside Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu, will also be part of Rahul Gandhi’s journey, though their arrival dates have not been shared yet.
While these high-profile visits signal an attempt to showcase alliance cohesion, questions persist regarding their practical impact in Bihar’s political landscape. Many visiting leaders, including Stalin, who is known for his stance against promoting Hindi, have limited direct influence in Bihar, raising doubts about the efficacy of their engagement beyond symbolic unity.
Moreover, conspicuous absences on the guest list, such as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray, and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, highlight underlying fissures within the alliance.
While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to contest the Bihar elections independently further complicates the alliance narrative. The exclusion of local influential leaders like Pappu Yadav, despite his strong support base in some districts, underscores ongoing internal disputes.
This raises the question: Is this campaign truly about voter rights, or is it more about reviving the perception of unity within the fractured INDIA alliance?
The timing of this political mobilisation coincides with the BJP’s strategic focus on corruption allegations against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress in Bihar. The ruling party is leveraging a recent parliamentary bill, which was deliberately delayed for discussion until the monsoon session’s end, to keep the corruption narrative alive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Gaya further reinforced this agenda.
This political tug-of-war comes at a time when Congress is attempting to reclaim lost ground in Bihar, despite being widely blamed for the Mahagathbandhan’s defeat in the 2020 Assembly elections. Back then, RJD won 75 out of 144 seats it contested (a strike rate of 52 percent), whereas Congress could secure only 19 out of 70 seats (a strike rate of just 27 percent). Had Congress performed better, the alliance could have formed the government, preventing Nitish Kumar’s return as Chief Minister.
That electoral failure continues to haunt Congress. As seat-sharing talks loom, observers believe the Vote Adhikar Yatra and the inclusion of high-profile leaders may be an attempt by Congress to exert pressure within the alliance and negotiate a better deal.
Interestingly, it was Bihar that played host to the first INDIA alliance meeting on 23 June 2023, convened by then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Yet, within months, Kumar exited the alliance and returned to the NDA fold, an early sign of the alliance’s internal fragility.
Despite the disarray, Tejashwi Yadav’s recent endorsement of Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister has given Congress a symbolic boost. However, the party’s reluctance to endorse Tejashwi as the CM candidate for Bihar reflects the lingering hesitation and strategic ambiguity that continues to cloud the INDIA alliance’s unity claims.
With the stakes rising and political narratives hardening, Bihar is once again at the centre of a national experiment; only time will tell whether this attempt at unity will succeed or crumble under the weight of its own contradictions.
