The two paths before post-Nitish Bihar

Bihar is entering a new political era.

- Manindra Nath Thakur

After decades, the BJP has managed to install its own leader as chief minister (CM) — the new CM, Samrat Choudhary, has served as deputy CM under Nitish Kumar. The transition was never going to be easy.For a long time, political circles and public discussion had been shaped by the belief that the mandate in Bihar was tied to Nitish Kumar's leadership. Some JD(U) leaders were uneasy with any move that unsettled that arrangement. Yet, given Nitish Kumar's health, the shift had become unavoidable. What was required, therefore, was an honourable exit.

But this is not simply a story of succession. It raises a larger question: After decades of rule by Lohiaite formations and leaders shaped by the anti-Emergency movement, what kind of politics is Bihar now moving towards? What changes are likely in the state’s public policies? Bihar seems to be entering a new political economy.

This transition must be seen in the broader context of Bihar’s long and incomplete transition to capitalism. In many ways, Bihar represents a case of frozen transition. For decades, the state’s social structure was dominated by feudal classes and upper castes. The rise of OBC politics weakened upper-caste domination, but it also produced a new ruling elite. Feudal relations did not disappear; they survived in altered form. What emerged was a system that could, at best, be described as “bullock-cart capitalism” — a limited transformation that could not generate new social relations beyond a point.