As Bihar heads into a crucial two-phase Assembly election, the high-stakes battle for power has officially begun with voting underway across 121 constituencies in the first phase. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s NDA is aiming to retain power, while the Opposition Grand Alliance led by Tejashwi Yadav eyes an upset fueled by promises of employment and anti-incumbency sentiments.

Nitish Kumar seeks another term amid leadership speculation

The NDA’s campaign, driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior party leaders, focused on continuity and governance. However, internal speculation over the leadership question — with reports hinting at the possible replacement of Nitish Kumar — dominated political chatter until the BJP clarified that Kumar remains their face in Bihar.

Tejashwi Yadav banks on job promise

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has built his campaign around an ambitious promise of providing one government job per household, which would amount to around 1.3 crore jobs. The Opposition hopes this will strike a chord with Bihar’s youth battling unemployment and migration.

Congress struggles to stay relevant

The Congress, a junior partner in the Grand Alliance, appeared disjointed in its campaign. Although Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav initially campaigned together, Gandhi’s long absence created confusion, even leading to “friendly contests” between RJD and Congress candidates in over a dozen seats.

Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party enters the fray

Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party is contesting all 243 seats, emerging as an unpredictable element. Kishor has said his party will either secure fewer than 10 or more than 150 seats, depending on voter response to his anti-corruption and governance-driven agenda.

Key issues and first phase dynamics

The election discourse centers on unemployment, corruption, healthcare, education, and migration. The NDA promises one crore jobs and a women-centric empowerment drive. In the 2020 elections, the Grand Alliance won 63 of the 121 seats that are voting today, while the NDA secured 55.

Prime Minister Modi urged citizens to participate actively in the “festival of democracy,” especially first-time voters, reminding them: “First voting, then refreshments.”

Actor-politician Vijay has launched a blistering attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, accusing him of “slanderous remarks” and “venomous politics” amid growing speculation about a possible alliance between his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the AIADMK.

Vijay accuses CM of ‘politics of hatred’

Speaking at a party event in Mamallapuram, Vijay accused the ruling DMK of practicing divisive politics and claimed Stalin had become “intoxicated by power” while losing “humanity, ethics, and dignity.”
“The Chief Minister speaks of morality and compassion but plays only a political game,” the actor said, referring to the Karur stampede in September that killed 41 people at one of his rallies.

Vijay alleged that Stalin’s recent comments were filled with “venom and malice,” calling them a reflection of “politics of hatred.” The DMK, in turn, has blamed the TVK for the Karur tragedy, maintaining that police had issued multiple warnings on crowd safety which were ignored by Vijay’s team.

DMK blames Vijay’s rally management for tragedy

A police complaint cited by media claimed that Vijay’s “deliberate display of political power,” including arriving late to the rally, led to chaos and loss of lives. The DMK accused the actor of using the tragedy for political mileage, while the TVK countered by calling it “vendetta politics” ahead of next year’s elections.

AIADMK tie-up buzz intensifies

Vijay’s sharp criticism of the DMK, coupled with his softer stance toward the AIADMK, has reignited talk of a potential alliance between the two parties. The AIADMK has publicly said that “all who wish to oust the DMK are welcome,” and its leader E Palaniswami has hinted that discussions may already be underway.

TVK sources have denied any official tie-up but stopped short of ruling it out, suggesting that alliance talks remain a possibility.

The BJP, meanwhile, has maintained a cautious approach toward Vijay, recognising his immense popularity and the potential voter base his entry into politics could bring.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has alleged large-scale voter fraud during last year’s Haryana Assembly elections, claiming that as many as 25 lakh votes were stolen. He said the number represents about 12.5% of the total 2 crore voters in the state, calling it “one in every eight voters” being fake.

Gandhi stated that several Congress candidates raised concerns after the election results, saying something appeared “off”. Despite all exit polls predicting a Congress win, the final results gave victory to the BJP.

He also showed a video of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini allegedly saying before the results that “arrangements” had been made for the BJP to win. “What were these arrangements?” Gandhi asked, questioning how the leader could be certain of victory even before counting began.

“Brazilian model voted as Seema and Sweety,” alleges Gandhi

Citing alleged irregularities in the voter list, Gandhi displayed 22 entries featuring the same stock photograph of a Brazilian model, Matheus Ferrero, who appeared multiple times under different names such as Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati. “She votes in 10 different booths in Haryana and has multiple names. This means this is a centralised operation,” he said.

He further claimed there were 100 voter IDs with the same woman’s photo in a single constituency and another image that appeared 223 times across two polling booths. Gandhi alleged that such duplication enabled outsiders to vote multiple times.

“This is the reason the Election Commission destroys CCTV footage of booths,” he said, accusing the poll body of failing to prevent electoral fraud.

Congress lost by narrow margins, says Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress lost eight constituencies by extremely slim margins, including one by just 32 votes, with the total margin across these seats amounting to 22,779 votes. “This shows how close the election was and how manipulation changed the result,” he said.

The Congress leader alleged that 3.5 lakh names were deleted from Haryana’s voter list before the election. He demanded accountability from the Election Commission, saying it had the capability to remove duplicate entries instantly but chose not to.

Election Commission sources respond

Sources in the Election Commission refuted the claims and questioned why Congress polling agents did not raise objections on voting day. They added that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was meant to identify duplicate or invalid entries.

“Polling agents are supposed to object if a voter’s identity is doubtful. If Pawan Khera’s name appears in two states’ voter lists, does that mean he votes twice?” an official source asked.