IN BIHAR POLLS, IT’S NITISH VS NITISH

This election is about what Nitish Kumar has done in the past 20 years, and what he hasn't

- Ruhi Tewari

A file photo of Janata Dal (United) supporters wearing Nitish Kumar masks during a campaign for the Bihar assembly election in Patna, Bihar.

On the face of it, the 2025 assembly election in Bihar is a battle between chief minister Nitish Kumar and the opposition's main face, Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

But peel the layers and beneath lies the real fight: Nitish Kumar versus Nitish Kumar. Because at the heart of this election is the chief minister of two decades and two dominant narratives-his governance record and the transformation of Bihar from a 'jungle raj' to a functioning state versus his inability to tackle the throbbing pain of unemployment and a fatigue with his long tenure. This has caused a yearning for badlaav (change).

It is, in a sense, a textbook Indian election-everyday issues that impact voters' lives dominating the narrative with a healthy dollop of caste arithmetic thrown in. The difference, however, is that this election is defined by a clear generational divide, between those who continue to live with the bitter memories of former RJD supremo Lalu Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi's regimes, thereby greatly appreciating what Kumar has brought to the table, and those who have little or no recollection of the RJD tenure. For the second cohort, the change under Kumar is neither obvious nor enough.

In a crux, therefore, this election is about what Kumar has done in the past 20 years, and what he hasn't.