New Delhi/Patna, Oct 6 (PTI) Battle lines were drawn in Bihar on Monday with JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha exuding confidence about the NDA returning to power in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asserted that the people will vote for change this time, after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the assembly polls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the NDA government has pulled Bihar out of “jungle raj” and given it a new direction of development and good governance. The people of the state will once again choose the politics of development in the state assembly polls, he said.
BJP president J P Nadda said that these polls are for continuing the state’s development journey, ridding it of infiltrators and stopping the return of “jungle raj”.
The Congress, a constituent of the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) in Bihar, sharpened its attack on the Election Commission, alleging that the poll body had failed to answer the questions raised by it.
Questioning the timing of the announcement of the poll schedule, the opposition party alleged that it shows an “alliance” between the EC and the ruling BJP.
“We don’t get answers to our questions. The Election Commission is being questioned on a daily basis. They created a political environment that there are illegal migrants, where are the illegal migrants? They did not answer,” Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “The questions that the INDIA bloc and Rahul Gandhi asked, no answers have been given,” he told PTI Videos.
Khera alleged that the poll announcement was made on Monday after giving the ruling alliance time to put money in people’s hands.
“If this is not ‘gathbandhan’ (alliance) between the BJP and the EC then what is it?” he asked, adding, “The issue is not just ‘vote chori’ but what you do after it. What you did for the last 20 years, those are the issues. You stole pensions, rations, jobs”.
People of Bihar will decide the fate of the ruling NDA and the opposition bloc, comprising the RJD and Congress among others, exercising their franchise in the state assembly polls scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11.
Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said elections will be held in 121 seats of the 243-member Assembly on November 6, while the remaining 122 constituencies will go to polls on November 11.
The counting of votes will be on November 14, the poll body chief said.
Welcoming the announcement of poll schedules, JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said in a post on X, “Looking at the public sentiment, I am fully confident that after this election, the NDA government will be formed again with a thumping majority under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar”.
And, Bihar will figure among the top ten states of the country in the next five years, the JD (U) leader, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, asserted.
He said that people of Bihar will vote to set up industries in every district of the state in the next five years, fulfil the dreams of self-employment of more than two crore women and provide government jobs or employment to more than one crore youth.
They will vote to continue the benefit of 125 units of free electricity provided to nearly two crore consumers and maintain the respect for the state’s farmers, elderly, and women, he said..
“This election will also serve as proof that the rapid pace of Bihar’s development can no longer be stopped by spreading lies, creating confusion or misleading people,” Jha added.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said Bihar will vote for change in the upcoming elections and “every Bihari will be the CM”. .
“My dear people of the state. November 14, 2025. We must remember this date. This date will forever shine in golden letters as the beginning of Bihar’s bright future, transformation, development, and rise.
“The bugle of change has been sounded. Now, every Bihari must come together with full dedication, harnessing all their energy, to form a Mahagathbandhan government,” Yadav wrote on X.
The RJD leader, who served as deputy chief minister in the previous Mahagathbandhan government, asserted that the state’s youths will vote to end unemployment.
“With everyone’s support, we will build a better, developed and new Bihar”, he said, while accusing the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government of misgovernance. He listed a litany of issues, from corruption and unemployment to paper leaks, scams and poor public infrastructure, that he said had plagued Bihar over the past two decades.
BJP president J P Nadda said the NDA government in Bihar has become synonymous with people’s welfare and good governance.
“I have full confidence that the sacred land of Bihar, which is the mother of democracy, will give the BJP and NDA its blessings and massive votes,” he said.
RJD national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha urged the Election Commission to play the role of a “referee” in the Bihar polls and demanded that the poll panel must take tough action if anyone tries to win the election by sowing “seeds of hatred”.
“No matter how high a position such a person holds, punishment should be given. Because if someone tries to win the election by sowing poison in society, this process and this practice should be stopped,” the RJD MP said. PTI PK RT
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