Bihar Elections 2025: BJP Braces up for Challenge of Comforts
Traffic Jam near Bhagalpur railway station! (Image TRH)
From a “Bandh” that failed to disrupt daily life to bitter infighting among heavyweights in Bhagalpur, the BJP faces a crisis of unity even as Modi’s central appeal remains its strongest hope.
By MANISH ANAND
BHAGALPUR, September 9, 2025 — On the day of the Bihar Bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest an alleged insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother, life across the state remained largely normal. Roads stayed clogged with traffic, while BJP workers in some towns held placards in their freshly pressed kurta-pyjamas, eager to catch the eye of television cameras.
In Bhagalpur, the battle lines are sharper. The city’s skyline is dominated by hoardings of BJP ticket hopefuls, while local newspapers devote near-daily spreads to speculation over who will secure nominations. The party is witnessing an avalanche of aspirants across constituencies, and in Bhagalpur—where the BJP has lost three straight Assembly elections—a clash of heavyweights is brewing.
The elder son of former Union Minister Ashwani Choubey has plastered hoardings across the city. Another former Union Minister, Shahnawaz Hussain, is holding regular press conferences to revive his fortunes. Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, though representing Godda in Jharkhand, is also working behind the scenes in his native Bhagalpur.
Local BJP cadres, however, appear divided into multiple factions. A senior party leader with RSS ties admitted that rebellion is inevitable “if the ticket goes to a family member of a senior functionary.”
Hussain is exploring prospects of bagging the BJP nomination, while Choubey and Dubey are lobbying for their son and spouse respectively. While having been a Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government at the Centre, Hussain now finds himself in political wilderness.
Hussain has been actively making outreaches to key BJP functionaries in Bhagalpur to cement his position. Choubey and Dubey pose roadblocks to Hussain’s bid for a political mainstreaming.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Ajit Sharma—better known locally as the father of a model-turned-actress—has defeated BJP challengers three times in a row.
Despite Modi’s Smart City plan lying largely forgotten—visible mainly in designer gates at a city park—his imprint remains. The Indian Institute of Information Technology in Sabour and an upcoming thermal power plant in Pirpainti serve as reminders of central investment. Pirpainti lies outside the Bhagalpur Assembly constituency.
For many BJP workers, Modi himself is the party’s trump card in Bihar. As local political observer Ashish Singh puts it: “Despite infighting and governance issues under Nitish Kumar, people may still vote for the NDA to remain aligned with the Centre.”
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