Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | The job pitch is loud, but the caste pull is stronger

From Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj to Tejashwi Yadav's RJD, every party is talking of employment this election, but Bihar voters still prefer the caste cue

Purnia: The sun is a molten disc rushing down to call it a day behind a mango orchard. Somewhere beyond, an undulating sing-song chorus arises — women bidding farewell to the sun god on the sixth day after Deepavali. Therein the name: Chhath. A festival that has spread outside Bihar with a large floating migrant population in search of employment. But once every year, they return, or try to be home with the family for Chhath.

Across the road, in an empty plot adjoining a brick kiln, yellow flags of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj flutter atop SUVs and battery rickshaws. A motley crowd waits for the poll strategist-turned-neta, campaigning for his candidates in Purnia district. We are in Baisi, where Kishor's party has fielded Shahanawaz Alam.

In election meetings, Kishor has been asking people to rise above caste and religious divisions and vote for development. Muslim votes are being used as kerosene to light Lalu’s lantern, he alleges.

Mohamad Mujtaba, who has returned to his village for good after spending a decade doing small jobs in Delhi, has been waiting for an hour to hear Kishor. “Shahanawaz Bhai is a strong candidate. But the Mahagathbandhan is also in the fray,” he says, not sure how the electoral battle will shape up before polling.  

There is a certain curiosity about Jan Suraaj, especially among the aspirational lot — the ones who have travelled outside Bihar in search of livelihood. But will they trust him with their vote this time? It's Jan Suraaj’s first innings, and the electorate remains sceptical.

People like to be on the winning side. Or to vote for the winning candidate. Except for the committed and cadres, even if there is an iota of doubt in the minds of electors about the prospects of the party or a candidate, it's difficult to hold them back.

“Jan Suraaj is a media creation. It’s nowhere in the picture,” says Pappu Yadav, the independent MP from Purnia considered close to the Congress.

Passengers travelling from Seemanchal to central Bihar tend to break their journey for a bowl of dahi-chooda (curd with flattened rice served with jaggery) at Dumra chowk. Mahesh Yadav, a schoolteacher, is returning from Munger with his family. He agrees with the issues raised by Kishor.

“But this is his first election. Tejashwi (Yadav) has also promised jobs,” he says, slurping white sugary tea from earthen cups.

In its manifesto, the I.N.D.I.A bloc has promised to enact a law to give one government job per family and to regularise the status of every temporary and contractual worker. If one were to ask an I.N.D.I.A. bloc leader in Bihar to name one issue that the alliance is focusing on, they will say jobs, jobs, and jobs.

A bit too late?

But has this thrust on employment come a bit too late in the day? A sort of afterthought to tap into the sentiment created by Prashant Kishor’s party as elections turn increasingly bipolar closer to the finish line. Or is it a mere reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at an election rally, where he linked the availability of cheap data with income generated by youth making social media reels?

For an alliance that started its campaign with Rahul Gandhi’s vote-theft campaign in September, changing gear at the last moment won’t be easy.

Ten kilometres down the road, at a roadside tea stall, a group of boys in their early twenties shares a smoke. Employment? Yes, they want. But vote, they will on the caste line. Unapologetically.

There is no ambiguity, no second thought whatsoever. Yadav for Lalu’s lantern. Kushwaha and Kurmi root for the JD(U)’s arrow. Bhumihar, Brahmin, Rajput, Teli and Bania for the BJP’s lotus.

In India, caste is a living reality. In Bihar — so inured to caste consciousness in every sphere of life, personal and public — even non-living objects can assume a social identity depending on who is promising what.