NEW DELHI – Voting for the two-stage Bihar assembly elections begins today (Thursday), in a contest viewed as pivotal for the survival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s minority government. The 243-seat state legislature holds outsized political importance, as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) party remains a crucial pillar of Mr Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Following the 2024 general elections, the BJP’s seat count dropped to 240—well short of the 272 needed for a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The support of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) with 12 MPs and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 16 MPs gives the NDA a fragile majority. Any electoral setback for Mr Kumar in Bihar could therefore weaken Mr Modi’s grip on power at the federal level.
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Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition, buoyed by Rahul Gandhi’s resurgence in 2024, is banking on alliances with regional heavyweights like Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to dent the BJP’s base. Bihar, notably, remains the only major Hindi-speaking state where the BJP has not independently ruled—a dynamic that raises the stakes for both sides.
However, the election has also been marred by controversy. Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have accused the Election Commission of colluding with the ruling party to manipulate voter lists under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. They allege selective deletions of Muslim voters and claim the body’s autonomy has been compromised after changes to the appointment process of election commissioners.
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With 58 percent of Bihar’s population under 25, Generation Z voters could emerge as decisive players in this high-stakes election. Nearly 1.47 million of them are first-time voters, making youth participation a key factor in determining whether Bihar will once again bolster Mr Modi’s coalition—or trigger tremors in New Delhi’s power corridors.