The skies over Bihar turned into a battleground for weeks, as helicopters and chartered planes carried top politicians across the state in a campaign of unmatched scale and cost. By Sunday evening, the airborne armada fell silent, marking the end of campaigning for the second phase of assembly elections after more than 450 sorties, according to news sources.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday once again targeted the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) and electoral irregularities.
Controversy has been caused by a scathing article by senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor labeling dynastic politics as a serious threat to the Indian democracy, with a specific reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has solidified political leadership as a birthright, and demands political reforms to make India more meritocratic.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has sparked a fresh controversy with his remarks suggesting that only a small section of the population — primarily from upper castes — dominates key institutions in India, including the armed forces, reports said.
Predominance of caste system has been stated to be the bane of Bihar, but it’s forthcoming election is witnessing regional allies of BJP and Congress getting a lion’s share of seats lest the caste equation go awry. Keenly aware of the deciding role of caste in voting behaviour, the leadership of both the national level parties have left the constituencies reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates to the regional allies.
Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s remarks that the National Education Policy 2020 and the PM SHRI initiative had been brought in by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to “brainwash children according to their own ideology”, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday (October 30, 2025) referred to this as a “glaring display of ignorance and political opportunism”.
Former Indian cricket captain and the Congress government’s MLC nominee, Md Azharuddin, is likely to be inducted into the state Cabinet led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, in a move seen as politically significant ahead of the Jubilee Hills byelection.
The Opposition Mahagathbandhan on Tuesday released its manifesto for the Bihar Assembly polls, promising a government job to one member of every family, restoration of the old pension scheme, 200 units of free power to each household, lift ban on toddy and a monthly allowance of Rs.2,500 under Mai Bahin Yojna for women. The NDA alliance termed the manifesto a “bundle of lies”.
The principal rival fronts in Bihar have finally announced incumbent Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav as their respective chief ministerial candidates after weeks of speculation and haggling. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), around the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Janata Dal (United) axis, and the Mahagatbandhan, or Grand Alliance, around the Indian National Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) axis, are caught in their internal games of one-upmanship.
After months of uncertainty and prolonged seat-sharing talks, the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc on Thursday announced RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, a move seen as a last-ditch effort to project unity and end internal squabbles ahead of the polls.
