MANDAL VERSUS MILLENNIAL

As Bihar heads into a crucial election, Tejashwi Yadav is wooing the restless youth with promises of employment, while the ruling NDA banks on Nitish Kumar's loyal base of women voters to see him through what many believe could be his last political battle

- PRATUL SHARMA

The ghats of Patna hum with their usual mix of ritual and routine.

The Ganga moves slow and heavy with silt as workers scoop out slush to ready the steps for the annual Chhath festival. This year, the cleanup is hurried, as devotees will also be voters in a few weeks.

A few steps away, a cluster of young men and women sit cross-legged solving question papers. One student, seated slightly apart, looks up from his sheet. “We are doing a mock test for the sub-inspector exam,” says Sumit Kushwaha, taking a break from his general knowledge paper. “The government has advertised 1,799 posts, the biggest recruitment drive in years. Already 14 lakh people have applied.”

The scene repeats itself across Bihar—students studying in open spaces, on railway platforms and in parks. In Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, hundreds gathered daily for physical training until the ground was taken over for election rallies. In recent months, Bihar has seen several student protests over question paper leaks and job scams. For a state long known for its civil service aspirants but poor in job opportunities, the elections have become an occasion for cautious hope.

Sumit, a political science graduate, says the group has been studying together for months because of the lack of quiet spaces. Beside him sits Pradeep Kumar, who completed his postgraduate degree in mathematics in 2019. Both are preparing to become darogas, or sub-inspectors, a title that carries significant weight in the popular imagination across the Hindi heartland.