Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 25: As parties scale up their campaign trails ahead of the November Bihar Assembly polls, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is attempting to draw sympathy from the Muslim voters harping on that the rival “Mahagathbandhan” had not given enough representation to the minorities while the opposition claimed that the ruling bloc got “scared” by the grand alliance naming an Extremely Backward Class (EBC) nominee as its deputy chief ministerial face.
“Why is Amit Shah so frustrated by the nomination of an EBC leader as Bihar’s deputy CM candidate?” Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the chief ministerial candidate of the “Mahagathbandhan” asked while addressing reporters in Patna on Saturday.
Mr Yadav also accused BJP leaders, including the Union home minister Amit Shah, of hypocrisy for raising questions over minority (Muslim) representation in the opposition bloc. “The BJP, which has been repeatedly abusing religious minorities and threatening to send them to Pakistan, is now worried about their representation. We will soon address their concerns,” Yadav added.
There have been statements by some INDIA bloc leaders to the effect that multiple deputy CMs may be appointed, and those could include a Muslim too.
The INDIA bloc, contesting the November polls as the Mahagathbandhan, has named Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani, a prominent EBC face, as its deputy CM nominee. Yadav alleged that the BJP’s reaction to the announcement — particularly the argument about the alleged lack of Muslim representation — exposed its “hatred” towards the EBCs.
“The hatred of the BJP towards the EBC community has come out in the open. They are repeatedly questioning the nomination of Mukesh Sahani as our Deputy CM candidate. Why is Amit Shah so frustrated by the nomination of an EBC leader as Bihar’s Deputy CM candidate,” asked Yadav,
The NDA apparently has reasons to worry. With Mukesh Sahani named as deputy CM, the INDIA bloc appears to be reaching out to the EBCs, who constitute 36% of Bihar’s population, the largest single social group. Sahani’s own community, the Nishads, accounts for roughly 2.5%.
As per Bihar’s 2023 caste and community survey, Muslims make up 17.7% of the state’s population, roughly over 2 crore people, making their representation a key political issue in every election.
The Mahagathbandhan’s candidate selection reflects a clear caste arithmetic. Out of its 255 total candidates, 56% belong to backward or extremely backward communities, the largest share going to the traditional Muslim-Yadav (MY) vote base — with 67 Yadav and 30 Muslim candidates fielded.
By comparison, the NDA has given tickets to just five Muslim candidates, with JD(U) allotting four and Chirag Paswan’s party one, while the BJP has not fielded a single Muslim candidate on the 101 seats it is contesting.
Yadav’s remarks came amid sharp criticism from around the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bloc, for allegedly ignoring their core voter base of Muslims. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday accused the RJD of failing to give Muslims meaningful representation.
Paswan claimed that his father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, had once “sacrificed his own party” to try and make a Muslim the chief minister in 2005, but alleged that RJD “was not ready then, and is not ready now.” “RJD was not ready for a Muslim chief minister even in 2005, and today in 2025, it is neither ready to give a Muslim chief minister nor a deputy chief minister!” Chirag said in a charged post on ‘X’.
The BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain dismissed the Mahagathbandhan’s move as a “mahabhool” (mega blunder), saying it had alienated its MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote base. “Their M-Y equation does not stand for ‘Muslim-Yadav’ anymore but ‘Mukesh Sahani-Tejashwi Yadav.’ Their vote bank is upset with them now… There are cracks in the Mahagathbandhan, Congress has knelt down before Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Yadav,” Hussain said, predicting an NDA victory.
Meanwhile, playing his old records, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the “mahagathbandhan” of encouraging illegal infiltration. Addressing a public rally in Khagaria district, Mr Shah slammed the INDIA bloc for opposing the “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and asserted that every infiltrator would be detected, deleted from the voters’ list and deported to their countries.
“Rahul baba says that let the infiltrators stay in Bihar. You tell me, should we let the infiltrators stay here? I want to clearly tell Rahul baba that no matter how many rallies you hold to save infiltrators…He cannot protect infiltrators by taking out ‘Ghuspetiya Bachao Yatra’,” Shah told the gathering.
His allusion was to Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. He also said the Assembly elections would decide whether the ‘jungle raj’ would return to Bihar or the State remain on the path of development.
Mr Shahnawaz Hussain said Tejashwi Yadav was accepting his defeat as he was convinced that the NDA was going to win more than 200 seats in the Bihar Assembly polls. “Tejashwi Yadav is accepting his defeat. We have already said the NDA will contest elections, win, and form a government under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. Tejashwi Yadav is convinced that the NDA will win, so he is raising questions about us. Tejashwi Yadav does not need to worry much. He should know that the NDA is going to win more than 200 seats with full strength this time.”
Mr Yadav, however, reiterated his promise that if the “Mahagathbandhan” was voted to power, a law would be enacted within 20 days to provide government jobs to every family, and the recruitments would be completed in 20 months.
Addressing an election rally in Gogri in Khagaria district, Mr Yadav said he was fighting the elections not just to form a government but to build the State. “We need to make Bihar number one, for which there is a need to bring investment, promote education, and ensure proper health facilities,” Mr Yadav said.
Countering his claim, the BJP leader Vivek Thakur said Yadav was given a chance earlier, but corruption had “reached its peak,” forcing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to exit the alliance. Mr Thakur said, “He [Tejashwi Yadav] was given a chance, but Nitish Kumar had to leave his alliance because corruption had reached its peak. One thing is well-known: Nitish Kumar stands firmly against corruption.” Taking a jibe at the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family, Thakur added, “His entire family is mired in corruption, spending half the time in jail and half on bail.”
The Union Minister Nityanand Rai hit out at Mr Yadav over his poll promise to bring change in just 20 months and said in those 20 months they won’t talk about development and rather would orchestrate robberies, grab the lands of the poor, or set up a kidnapping industry. “What can they do in 20 months? They won’t talk about development; they will orchestrate robberies, grab the lands of the poor, or set up a kidnapping industry,” he said.
Lauding the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, Mr Rai stated, “The work that has been done in the last 20 years under the NDA government and the leadership of Nitish Kumar is not even in their [Tejashwi Yadav’s] thinking; uplifting women, the poor, farmers, and youth is not even in their intentions.”