Tejashwi's boycott threat echoes Maoist language

Before the Bihar Assembly elections, the threat of an election boycott by Tejashwi Yadav, coupled with the stance of Rahul Gandhi and the support from Congress leaders, is beginning to resemble a Maoist-Naxalite path.

- ALOK MEHTA

This raises a serious question—could Bihar once again drift away from electoral politics toward violence and anarchy?

Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), while opposing the Special Revision of the Voter List in Bihar, threatened to boycott the elections, saying, "We can collectively consider boycotting the election. That option is open to us."

Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru also said that all options are open and that a collective decision will be made.

"This is the Election Commission's and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's voter list," he said. "We will continue this battle, and if needed, take the biggest possible decision. A big fight is coming."

Rahul Gandhi has previously stated that he is fighting against the Indian state—a language not far from that of Maoists.

Ironically, the same Congress party whose leadership in Chhattisgarh was decimated by Maoists now has leaders like Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy calling the Naxal movement a social movement.

While the return of communist parties is not visible, on certain issues their language often mirrors that of the Congress.

At one point, Maoists held sway over large parts of Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

When the Modi government came to power, nearly one-fourth of India's districts were under the grip of red terror.

According to Ministry of Home Affairs data, there were 126 Maoist-affected districts in 2013. As of April 2025, that number has come down to just 18.

The audacity of the Maoists can be gauged from two recent incidents.

Commenting on the RJD and Congress leaders' statements on boycotting elections, BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Tejashwi already sees defeat looming and is looking for excuses.