Patna/Chandigarh: Bihar, has been a cradle of Democracy since ages and a Vehicle of Change in India for decades and centuries. From the eras of Chanakya, Kautilya, Mauryas and Samrat Ashok, many social experi
ments for democracy and ideals for Governance have originated from ancient Bihar. Modern Bihar, as part of India, has luminaries like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Jaiprakash Narain (JP), Karpoori Thakur, Jagjivan Ram and many more in the front row for the freedom of India and propounding a just rule of law.
This ongoing Assembly Election in Bihar has a potential to repeat the history, with voters deciding not only the fate of Bihar State leaders but impacting the national politics. The state voters now have choices for electing their leaders and type of governance as also an opportunity to make their Choice:
Change Brings in New Ideologies: When the old leaders prefer Power over Governance, the Citizens must put forward alternatives, test the young blood and reject the Deadwood. Though the state has 53% of youth population (amongst 7.43 crores voters), the state has been ruled by old leaders or their families and ironically benefitting from the JP Movement legacy. Among the JP’s staunch supporters: Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family has ruled the state for about 14 years ; Nitish Kumar an ex-JP’ian has ruled for 20 years, apart from Sharad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sushil Modi and others sharing power in the state or the centre representing Bihar’s population. Though most of these leaders have use
d Socialist, public welfare and such planks for enjoying power, the state population has hardly benifitted from their policies or functioning. Though the second largest state of India, Bihar stands at No. 14 in contributing to GDP, behind West Bengal, or even Delhi (at 12) and Rajasthan (at 7); while most less-educated youth go job-hunting to other states like Punjab, Haryana or elsewhere and educated youth prefer bureaucratic IAS, IPS and clerical jobs elsewhere.
Do Freebies Benefit the Citizen? : Distributing free benifits before elections has become a sordid trend in the Indian democracy. Indian voters have been lured with free offerings; from Laltains, bicycles, computers, jobs, free electricity, MNREGA, Ladli Behna Yojna , cash incentive to Women and What Not, before any election; from Panchayat to local bodieds, to 
assemblies and to Parliament. Yet neither have these benefits enriched the citizens nor brought down their powerty or subdued the hunger for more. Even caste based reservations to lure the voters have failed to benefit the real target benficiaries in the last 78 years.
Performance Vs Caste Equations: Bihar leads in the caste-based and mussleman politics during elections. Every single voter has a caste tag ranginging from Yadav, Thakur, Brahmin, Pande, Choube, Bhoomihar, Kurmi, Kushwaha, Kayastha; over-ruling the OBC, EBC, Sc, ST, Gen. connotations alotted earlier to help the under-previleged classes under the Constitution of India formulted by Baba Saheb Ambedakar or BP Mandal Commission.
Bihar Voters Must Show the Way and Reject Freebies: The Bihar Assembly elections 2025 have started unhealthy competition by distributing or offering freebies like Guaranteed jobs worth Rs. 10,000 to 30,000; Free electricity from 125 to 300 Units per month, One Crore jobs, One Job per family etc. from ruling BJP led NDA
Vs Mahagathbandhan led by RJD. These offerings are made without disclosing the sources of funds for providing Freebies to Citizens. How would the state with Rs. 3.75 Lakh Crores annual budget finance Rs. 10 -12 lakh crore annual Sops to citizens, is nowhere projected by these leaders or their manifestos. Choices to the Electors: In view of the variuos tangles and the postulates mentioned above, the Bihar electors have Three Main Choices. 1. The Double Engine concoction of BJP led NDA in the Centre and Nitish led NDA in Bihar; 2. Lalu Yadav- Tejashvi Yadav led INDI Gatthban of RJD, Congress and Left Parties; 3. Jan Suraj Party of political strategist and expert Prashant Kishore, which is fighting maximum number of seats (239) without any financial offerings !
Would anti- SIR stir or Hydrogen Bomb scares impact the results? Non-NDA parties especially Congress and RJD have led a very aggressive campaign against Election Commission of India’s SIR surgery to bisect un-authorised, illegal Bangladeshi, migrant, dead or doubtful voters from their lists. Despite much hi-touba and appeals to the Supreme Court to intervene, ECI has succeeded in purifying the Voter list by removing about 65 lakh voters and adding about 3.5 lakh new voters. How much these unjustied clamours, freebies and Candidates canvassing will impact the wisdom of Bihar electors will be known on Friday, the November XIV !
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