Broken Promises: How a Book Reshaped Bihar's Election Narrative

The Pen is mightier than the sword might be a cliché, but something interesting that unfolded in the recent Bihar election discourse could not have offered a better illustration of the phrase.

- SHASHI SINGH

For years, the phrase "Jungle Raj" had been a familiar political refrain in Bihar. Yet during the 2020 Assembly campaign, it seemed like a dated concept that had lost much of its impact. Even when Nitish tried to bring up the horrific era of the 90s, it seemed like people were not ready to indulge in it. He shouted angrily in some of his rallies when youth were shouting slogans against him. It looked like the RJD had been able to wash off the Jungle Raj stigma attached to it and people were ready to move ahead.

Fast forward to 2025, and the atmosphere could not have been more different. Long before the first campaign posters were up, Bihar seemed to be collectively revisiting the 1990s. YouTube channels were running mini-documentaries. Newsrooms dusted off old footage on law and order failures. Social media was rife with anecdotes that had lain dormant for decades. As though by some invisible trigger, the state was once again debating a bygone era as if it were unfolding afresh.

That trigger, many now agree, was a book.

Published in March 2024 by Westland, Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar by Mrityunjay Sharma was initially positioned as a research-heavy account of the 90s era, showing how aspirations of dignity and representation collided with weak institutions and spiralling crime. Sharma, who grew up in Ranchi when it was still part of undivided Bihar, wove together personal memories, historical context and political contradictions. The stories struck a chord. They resurrected the very anecdotes many Bihari families had whispered about for years.