![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-22-at-13.15.44-1.jpeg\")
As Bihar heads toward its legislative assembly elections on November 6 and 11, with results expected on November 14, the state is not witnessing a contest over governance but a theatre of nationalism. What should have been a referendum on economic performance has been turned into a test of patriotism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made anti-Pakistan rhetoric the centerpiece of his campaign, replacing policy debate with fear and spectacle in the name of national security.\nPower still rests with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)\u2013Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] alliance under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which holds a slim majority in the 243-member assembly. Yet public frustration runs deep. Poverty, unemployment, and collapsing infrastructure remain defining realities despite years of promises of \u201cvikas.\u201d According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2022\u201323), published on March 12, 2025, Bihar\u2019s unemployment rate stands at about 3.9 percent, slightly higher than the national average, while urban youth joblessness exceeds 10 percent. The Indian Express (October 11, 2025) reported that nearly one-third of Bihar\u2019s working-age population is underemployed or compelled to migrate for work.
\nBehind the slogans lies political survival. Modi\u2019s speeches regularly invoke Pakistan and security threats, turning the Pahalgam attack into campaign capital. Instead of addressing Bihar\u2019s persistent economic paralysis, the BJP has recast insecurity as identity and nationalism as governance. Even the Election Commission\u2019s decision to cut polling to two phases, down from five in 2015, signals a government more concerned with optics than accountability.
\nThe opposition remains fragmented. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leans on its social justice legacy, the Indian National Congress (INC) struggles to stay relevant, and the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) targets disillusioned youth, Dalits, and Muslims. However, the BJP\u2019s media influence and digital infrastructure continue to overshadow opposition campaigns.
\nThe gap between promise and performance has widened. NITI Aayog\u2019s Macro and Fiscal Landscape of Bihar (March 12, 2025) notes that nearly 88 percent of the state\u2019s population still lives in rural areas, most trapped in subsistence or informal work. Despite a capital outlay of around \u20b942,000 crore, infrastructure remains incomplete or stalled. About one-third of the population still lives below the poverty line, and private-sector job creation lingers at roughly 2 percent\u2014far below the national average.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-22-at-13.15.44.jpeg\")
\nInstead of fixing these structural issues, the Modi government has weaponized nationalism and identity. The 726-kilometre Nepal border is now described as a potential zone of infiltration, with campaign rhetoric linking Bihar\u2019s geography to Pakistan-inspired terrorism. Deccan Herald (September 28, 2025) and The Economic Times (September 19, 2025) report that this \u201cinfiltration\u201d narrative is being used to consolidate upper-caste Hindu votes and divert attention from governance failures both by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Analysts cited by these outlets call it a deliberate \u201csecuritization strategy\u201d that turns local challenges into national security spectacles.
\nCommunal polarization has deepened further. Muslims, who make up around 17 percent of Bihar\u2019s population and influence more than 60 constituencies, are being vilified in campaign discourse. National Herald (February 14, 2025) citing India Hate Lab, documented a 74 percent spike in hate-speech incidents across India, with Bihar among the states witnessing sharp increases. The BJP\u2019s revival of the \u201cMandal versus Mandir\u201d rhetoric fractures caste solidarity, reinforcing upper-caste dominance. The government\u2019s resistance to a comprehensive caste census also curtails empowerment for Dalits and OBCs. Smaller outfits like AIMIM, accused of dividing secular votes, further weaken opposition unity.
\nThe Congress has raised allegations of \u201cvote chori,\u201d or vote theft, pointing to growing public distrust in electoral fairness. Yet Modi\u2019s control over state institutions and the digital space ensures that dissenting voices are drowned out by orchestrated patriotism.
\nBihar\u2019s 2025 election is not merely a state contest. It reflects India\u2019s broader political drift toward performative nationalism. Governance has been replaced by grievance, accountability by aggression, and policy by propaganda. Nationalism has become both a shield and a sword\u2014protecting those in power while cutting down the possibility of honest debate.
\nFor millions of ordinary Biharis, this brand of nationalism brings no relief from unemployment or hunger. They are being asked to wave flags when their homes lack jobs, food, and healthcare. As poverty deepens, the government offers not reform but rhetoric.
\nThis is the tragedy of Bihar 2025. When democracy rewards noise instead of nuance, loyalty instead of livelihood, the victims are not just the jobless youth of Bihar but the very soul of India\u2019s democracy itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"