Noida: From crying in a police vehicle after getting arrested in March last year to being welcomed by the Bharatiya Janata Party with garlands, Tripurari Kumar Tiwari alias Manish Kashyap, who calls himself the ‘son of Bihar,’ has come a long way. Jail has only seasoned him further, accentuating the 34-year-old’s salt and pepper hair. He looks ready for politics.
The influence of the Bihari YouTuber cannot be discounted. After all, fake videos posted by him in March 2023 triggered a wild goose chase by the Bihar police, brought Bihar and Tamil Nadu to the verge of a ‘domestic diplomacy’ crisis, and sent the Bihar legislative assembly into a tizzy.
Kashyap’s video claimed that Hindi-speaking migrant workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Investigations followed, and the Tamil Nadu police concluded that he was spreading fake news to create social tension. Kashyap’s lies ended in prison time. He spent nine months in jail in Bihar and Tamil Nadu and is facing multiple FIRs against him. In December, the Patna High Court granted him bail in one of the cases.
Right from jail, Kashyap has been catapulted into politics, embraced by BJP president JP Nadda, just days after polling in Tamil Nadu concluded. His impressive social media following and fiery videos have made him a celebrity in Bihar.
Wherever he goes, people flock to him and ask for autographs and selfies. “Not just Bihar, walking with him in Noida itself is a security nightmare,” a pehelwan (wrestler) associate of Kashyap says in a heavy Haryanvi accent.
Kashyap is among an army of digital bahubalis in Bihar who have used YouTube as an alternative to mainstream news. They pose as social activists who have the courage to ask tough questions, walk into government offices to expose corruption and inaction,and create visual drama out of people’s issues. They are immensely popular in the hinterland and are considered local heroes. With millions of viewers and outsized influence, their entry into politics is actually seamless.
Sitting in his house in Noida, where he has built a free-to-use recording studio with saffron-white-green walls, Kashyap talks about his time in jail, which he describes as “hell on earth”. Prison time has taught him how to regulate his emotions, he says.
“Jail has improved me a lot. Our prison system needs reforms; once those happen, then 99 out of 100 people will walk out of jail reformed,” Kashyap told ThePrint in an interview.
Signs of a politician
Even though he has only just started his political career with the BJP, Kashyap’s penchant for lying and flat-face denials make him seem like a seasoned politician. Kashyap had contested the 2020 Bihar assembly election as an independent candidate from Chanpatia constituency in Paschim Champaran and polled 9,239 votes. Currently out on bail in the fake migrant video case, he repeats in interview after interview that he has been acquitted in the case. There has been no acquittal and the trial in Patna High Court is yet to begin.
Kashyap had allegedly made a video claiming attacks on Bihari migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu, which created tension in both states. “Does any media have a copy of the video? Where did the video end up? On Mars? Or did the Earth swallow it? I was defamed based on rumours,” Kashyap yells. The video was taken down due to its sensitive nature.
This wasn’t the only video that landed him in trouble. He is facing cases for allegedly beating a Kashmiri shawl seller in Bihar after the Pulwama attacks and also for advocating the vandalism of a statue of King Edward VII, endangering the life of a policeman. “I didn’t do any of these things,” he now claims.
He has been idolised by the 20-30 year youth group of Bihar. He can influence the forward caste vote bank here, though his appeal is limited among the marginalised sections
— Sanjay Kumar, an assistant professor at a central university in South Bihar
Even though Kashyap lost the 2020 election, he has captured the imagination of Bihar’s politics and politicians. Bihar BJP used the viral fake videos as ammunition to take on then-Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar. Legislators took over the well of the assembly and placed chairs on tables of reporting staff, demanding a probe into the allegations made by Kashyap. Even Bihar governor Rajendra Arlekar batted for him and complained at an event against the Supreme Court justices for penalising him for spreading fake news while going soft on the Editors Guild of India. Kashyap considers himself a direct challenger of Tejashwi Yadav. In videos before his arrest, he threatened the RJD leader, saying he would bring down the government if the police arrested him.
“I don’t have a godfather in politics. But neither does Narendra Modi,” he confidently says of the career ahead of him.
Overriding caste lines
Being a Brahmin candidate in caste-sensitive Bihar politics can’t be easy. But Manish Kashyap’s popularity as a YouTuber overrides many caste fault lines among the youth in Paschim Champaran. Sanjay Kumar, an assistant professor at a central university in South Bihar, says that Kashyap has a strong appeal among the upper caste youth. “He has been idolised by the 20-30 year youth group of Bihar. He can influence the forward caste vote bank here, though his appeal is limited among the marginalised sections,” Kumar told ThePrint.
Through all this, Kashyap tries to stay grounded. After his release from jail, he stood on a balcony as hundreds of people came to greet him.
“I am sorry I am standing on a roof like this while you’re standing below. I don’t like this. I want to be among you, but since such a crowd has gathered, I can’t come there for security reasons,” he said.
Kashyap’s approach is familial, resonant of a grassroots leader who doesn’t wish to show an upper hand. He keeps reminding the crowd that he is just one of them. “If I become a parliamentarian, then you all become MPs,” he says in a campaign video before he joined the BJP.
Bahubali YouTubers
Bihar’s latest crop of social justice warriors aren’t leaders emerging from movements, protests, or uprising; they are YouTubers—half journalists, half activists. They are social media influencers who have screamed their way to popularity with spectacle and high decibels. With millions of views on each video, these YouTubers fight to end corruption, keep the police in check, and seek justice and social reform.
Kashyap comes from the same league of activist-journalist-warriors. He chose this line of work in 2016. Before this, Kashyap was leading an ordinary 9-5 life. He comes from a family of army men; his grandfather served as a soldier while his father is still in service. Kashyap had lost his driver’s licence and had come back home to Bihar’s West Champaran to get another copy. That is when the 26-year-old saw Bihar’s rabid corruption face-to-face.
“Even today, if you ask for a driver’s licence, you have to pay off a babu. That’s the truth,” Kashyap says.
A young IT professional, for the first time, Kashyap could see Bihar’s society for what it was — perennially struggling with poverty and riddled with corruption. He decided to do something about it and started shooting videos. And that journey brought him statewide fame, 8.71 million followers, and also earned him the image of a troublemaker. Forty per cent of his followers are Biharis, Kashyap says.
He enjoys his celebrity. Wherever he goes, people flock to him and ask for autographs and selfies. “Not just Bihar, walking with him in Noida itself is a security nightmare,” a pehelwan (wrestler) associate of Kashyap says in a heavy Haryanvi accent.
Some YouTubers revere him, while others dismiss him as a BJP stooge. “Manish stopped being a YouTuber and social justice warrior long ago and joined hands with the BJP. He’s not my competition anymore; he’s a neta (politician) now, and I wish him all the best,” a YouTuber from Bihar said on the condition of anonymity.
Kashyap knows how to connect with people on the ground. His approach is familial, resonant of a grassroots leader who doesn’t wish to show an upper hand but wants to mingle in the crowd. He keeps reminding the crowd that he is just one of them. “If I become a parliamentarian, then you all become MPs. Not just me, all of us, all of Bihar. Remember this,” he says in a campaign video before he joined the BJP.
He grew up in a village surrounded by rivers. So the first thing on his checklist when it comes to serving the people of Bihar is controlling the annual flooding that ails the state. He also wants Bihar to have expressways for better connectivity.
“Uttar Pradesh has six expressways now—13 in total have been proposed. I want Bihar to have similar infrastructure development and connectivity,” he said.
Kashyap smirks but answers with honesty when asked about his ticket. He withdrew from the race as an independent, but didn’t get a ticket from the BJP.
“I did ask for a ticket, but the party didn’t think I was ready. It’s fine; I’ll contest the elections whenever they do think I am up for it,” he says.
Kashyap is confident he would have won 5 lakh votes as an independent candidate in Paschim Champaran constituency, and made difference in three-four additional seats. He seems ready to remark on conversations making national headlines, and serve the BJP from Bihar and Delhi. On international relations, he bats for ‘Akhand Bharat’ and considers Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar as India’s ‘sons’ that need to be brought back into the country’s fold.
“By 2029, Modi ji will make Pakistan-occupied Kashmir part of India. We have also prepared a roadmap to take over all of Pakistan. Entire Pakistan will be part of India in the next 10 years. You’ll see.”
(Edited by Prashant)