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The Indian state of Bihar is becoming a stage for three distinct and competing visions of politics : one built on continuity and development, another on democratic safeguards and electoral integrity, and a third on grassroots accountability through confrontation. Representational Image Source: Mr Democratic on X Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, newly installed as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was in Araria this weekend alongside Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and other INDIA bloc allies. The occasion was part of the Voter Adhikar Yatra , a 1,300-kilometre campaign traversing more than 20 districts and designed to rally public attention around the fairness of the electoral process in the upcoming state polls. LIVE: Joint press briefing by Shri @RahulGandhi and other Mahagathbandhan leaders | Bihar. https://t.co/e0S3Gjha8X — Congress (@INCIndia) August 24, 2025 Gandhi claimed that the alliance is “ideologically and politically aligned,” and promised that a...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Bihar marked a significant moment in India’s infrastructure narrative, with the launch of development projects collectively worth ₹12,000 crore.  At the center of this transformation stands the newly inaugurated Aunta–Simaria bridge, a six-lane engineering achievement that connects Patna’s Mokama with Begusarai across the Ganga river. More than a regional infrastructure project, the bridge represents a broader reimagining of India's economic geography, logistical efficiency, and rural connectivity. Image Source: PM NaMo on X This bridge has been constructed alongside the ageing Rajendra Setu, which holds the historic distinction of being independent India’s first Ganga bridge. Commissioned in 1959 and named after India’s first President, Rajendra Prasad, the old two-lane rail-cum-road bridge has long served its purpose but is now overwhelmed by modern freight volumes.  The new structure, built at a cost exceeding ₹1,870 cro...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched and dedicated projects worth over ₹12,000 crore in Bihar from the historic city of Gaya, while outlining the government’s national priorities on development, corruption reform, and security.  Image Source: PM NaMo Addressing a public gathering near the Vishnupad Temple, the Prime Minister said the double-engine government of the Centre and Bihar is committed to rapid infrastructure growth, direct welfare delivery, and constitutional accountability in public life.  The development package includes power, healthcare, and industrial projects, alongside the inauguration of a hospital and research centre for cancer care in Gaya. He said the projects are expected to generate employment, strengthen industrial capacity, and improve living standards for people in the region. In his address, Prime Minister Modi announced that more than 16,000 families from Bihar’s Magadh region received new homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojan...

India's Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha that seek to disqualify the Prime Minister, Union ministers, Chief Ministers or State and Union Territory ministers who remain in judicial custody for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges. Image Source: Daily Excelsior on X The bills--Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025--were tabled amid heavy opposition protests and sloganeering, with members tearing copies of the documents and throwing paper bits toward the minister. The proposed legislation states that if any elected office-bearer is in custody for 30 straight days in connection with offences carrying a punishment of five years or more, they will automatically cease to hold office on the 31st day.  Shah also moved a motion to refer the bills to a joint parliamentary committee for further discu...

In Bihar, the state often described as both the crucible and mirror of Indian democracy, the approaching assembly election is shaping into a contest with three clear power centres, each deploying a different language of legitimacy. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in office since 2005, used his Independence Day address to recount and promise development, jobs, empowerment, and continuity, presenting his tenure as a long arc of transformation and setting the agenda for the upcoming polls. Image Source: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar The opposition, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his Mahagathbandhan allies, has launched a 1,300 kilometre march branded as the Vote Adhikar Yatra, a symbolic protest framed around voter rights and democratic integrity. And Prashant Kishor, once India’s most sought-after election strategist and now founder of the Jan Suraaj movement, is marching on the streets himself, denouncing broken promises and confronting the state he once helped secure in power. Together, ...

India's Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch the “Vote Adhikar Yatra” from Sasaram in Bihar tomorrow; the 16–day march will cover Dehri on Sone in Rohtas; Kutumba, Aurangabad, Deo and Guraru; Punama Wazirganj, Gaya to Barbigha via Nawada; Sheikhpura to Munger via Sikandra and Jamui; Munger to Bhagalpur via Sultanganj; Kursela to Purnia via Korha and Katihar; Purnia to Narpatganj via Chandni Chowk and Araria; Supaul to Darbhanga via Phulparas, Sakri and Madhubani; Darbhanga to Sitamarhi via Muzaffarpur; Sitamarhi to West Champaran via Motihari; West Champaran to Siwan via Gopalganj; Chapra, Saran to Arrah in Bhojpur, culminating in Patna on September 1 -- a 1,300 kilometre route that opposition leaders say is meant to safeguard the very soul of Indian democracy itself. Image Source: INC India Rahul Gandhi framed the march as a defence of the most basic democratic principle: “one person, one vote.” In a post on X, he wrote, “We are bring...

India's Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Bihar voters allegedly declared “dead” in the draft roll after the state’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR); accused the Election Commission of disenfranchisement; BJP countered with charges over Sonia Gandhi’s voter registration before citizenship; Congress announced a state-wide protest yatra; and the Supreme Court described Bihar’s SIR as “voter friendly.” Image Source: Mr. Nehr_who? Sharing a video on X with electors omitted from the revised roll, Rahul Gandhi wrote that he had “never had the chance to have tea with ‘dead people’” and thanked the poll body for the “unique experience.”  The Election Commission’s August 1 draft roll, published after the SIR exercise, lists 7.24 crore electors—down 65.6 lakh from the 7.9 crore registered before June 24.  EC data attributes the reduction to 22 lakh dead electors, 36 lakh permanently shifted or untraceable, and 7 lakh duplicate registrations or non-submissions of ...

The Opposition parties of India on Monday staged an unprecedented protest march from Parliament House to the Election Commission (EC) headquarters over what they allege is a systematic attempt to disenfranchise voters in Bihar ahead of the state’s assembly elections later this year.  The protest, triggered by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted in Bihar, also raised broader questions over electoral integrity in India. Image Source: INC India Leaders including Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, DMK’s T. R. Baalu, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Derek O’Brien and Sagarika Ghose were among those detained by Delhi Police during the march.  They were stopped midway at Transport Bhawan, less than a kilometre from Nirvachan Sadan, and transported in buses to the Parliament Street police...

The Government of Bihar has failed to account for ₹70,877.61 crore in public funds over several financial years, according to the State Finances Audit Report for the year 2023–24 by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The report, tabled in the state legislature and reviewed by IndianRepublic.in in full, shows that 49,649 Utilisation Certificates (UCs), amounting to ₹70,877.61 crore, remained pending as of March 31, 2024.  These certificates are statutory documents required to confirm that funds disbursed have been used for their sanctioned purpose. “In the absence of UCs, there is no assurance that funds disbursed have been used for the intended purpose,” the CAG wrote in Chapter IV of the report (Section 4.5, Page 119). “Moreover, high pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of funds.” The report states that some of the pending UCs date back to 2002–03 and are linked to critical Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS...

Bihar’s Rural Works Department failed to account for ₹1,357.21 crore in utilization certificates; surrendered ₹316.84 crore in unspent funds at financial year-end; withheld audit-critical records from constitutional authorities; maintained unmonitored bank accounts holding public funds outside the state treasury; and routed scheme monies through personal ledgers in violation of constitutional norms, according to the State Finances Audit Report for the year ending March 31, 2024 released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The CAG report, tabled before the Bihar Legislative Assembly and published in April 2025, attributes multiple statutory and procedural violations to the department. As of March 31, 2024, ₹1,357.21 crore remained outstanding in the form of utilization certificates for grants disbursed to the Rural Works Department.  “In the absence of UCs, the actual utilization of the grants cannot be confirmed,” the report stated (Chapter IV, Section 4.5, Pag...

In this searing July heat, amid slogans, barricades, and baton-wielding police, a familiar figure stood tall and defiant outside Bihar’s Vidhan Sabha -- no longer behind the scenes but in the thick of the storm. Prashant Kishor, the man who once masterminded electoral victories from war rooms for India’s most powerful leaders, had taken to the streets.  But this time, he isn’t just strategizing a campaign -- he is leading one that many analysts say will reshape Bihar's legislature and who knows, its destiny, in just a few months from now. Image Source: Pk_youthbrigade The founder of Jan Suraaj was seen at the heart of a tense confrontation with Bihar Police, marching with thousands of supporters to deliver a memorandum to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- the very leader Kishor once helped retain power in 2015. Now, Kishor accused the same government of betrayal. He alleged it reneged on a promise to provide ₹2 lakh each to 94 lakh poor families in the state. Not a single rupee, ...

On July 19, 2025, former JD(U) national president and current Union Minister Lalan Singh stood on stage in Patna and delivered what was both a defense and a declaration: Bihar’s liquor ban, he said, was born of women’s request and would not be undone. The timing of the speech--months ahead of state elections--was politics with a moral edge. Launched in 2016 under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the liquor ban, or Sarabbandhi , was framed as a social revolution. It aimed to curb domestic violence, reduce alcohol-related crimes, and empower women.  Image Source: Mopr_Goi Singh recounted how women from the Jivika self-help programme urged the Bihar chief minister Nitish Babu to ban alcohol. And indeed, for many women in rural Bihar, the ban brought real relief—fewer late-night fights, less alcohol-fueled spending, and a safer environment after dark, as Union Minister Singh rightly recounted in Patna. But nearly a decade on, the ground reality is more complicated. According to officia...