Rahul’s Yatra Taps into Anger in Bihar’s Political Nerve Centre

The NDA rule in Bihar for past two decades also owe debt to Dalits, for they were the first to move away from Lalu and Rabri spearheaded Jungle Raj

By MANISH ANAND

NEW DELHI, August 17, 2025 — In the 2024 general elections, NOTA (None of the Above) secured more votes than the margin of defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the Sasaram Lok Sabha seat. On Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is launching his Bihar Yatra from Sasaram, aiming to reclaim ground among weaker sections that had drifted towards the BJP.

Congress’ Manoj Kumar had defeated BJP’s Shivesh Kumar from Sasaram in 2024, a constituency long seen as a barometer of Congress’ fortunes in Bihar. Once the stronghold of Jagjivan Ram and later his daughter Meira Kumar, Sasaram symbolized Congress’ decline when BJP’s Chedi Paswan won back-to-back in 2014 and 2019, riding the wave of aspirational politics.

But the 2024 verdict marked a shift. Voters, disenchanted with promises of aspirational politics, returned to welfarism—with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself spearheading populist politics. Despite Modi visiting Bihar 53 times since 2014 and announcing a slew of projects, the state’s youth continue to migrate in search of jobs, some as far as Mizoram and even Cameroon in Africa.

Repeated promises without tangible results are yielding diminishing returns for the BJP. Adding to its woes, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has faced criticism for errors in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), where living voters were declared dead.

To make the situation worse for the BJP and the party’s alliance partners in the National Democratic Alliance, the Election Commission of India (ECI) transformed virtually to the role of death registrar – declaring alive people dead in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Ironically, the ECI chose to address the press on a day, on Sunday, to coincide with the launch of Yatra of Gandhi from Sasaram against his allegations of “vote chori (theft of votes).” This risks the ECI being seen by the people on the other side of a fence, and certainly not as a neutral watchdog. The ECI will also be speaking only after the Supreme Court of India crushed the poll body’s obstinacy against Aadhar identification in Bihar’s SIR.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is battling waning appeal, leaving the NDA vulnerable to public anger over unemployment, broken promises, rising lawlessness, and allegations of deliberate voter deletions—65 lakh names reportedly struck off electoral rolls ahead of polls.

Rahul made his intent clear a few months ago by appointing Rajesh Kumar as chief of the party unit in Bihar. He hails from Dalit background. Sasaram is also known as Rome of Dalits. The NDA rule in Bihar for past two decades also owe debt to Dalits, for they were the first to move away from Lalu and Rabri spearheaded Jungle Raj.

(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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