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As campaigning ended on Tuesday (November 4, 2025) for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly election, leaders of both the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc went all out in their final appeal to voters in the 121 constituencies which will go to the polls on November 26. Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi held three rallies each on a hectic final day, while the INDIA bloc’s Chief Ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav used a chopper to squeeze in visits to 17 constituencies in the final day of campaigning. The NDA trotted out the big guns with a slew of Union Ministers and BJP Chief Ministers while harping on a theme of corruption and jungle raj if the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal returns to power in the State. Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Yadav focussed on Bihar’s unemployed youth, asking why the NDA has failed to provide jobs despite many years in power in both the State and Centre. Warning against ‘jungle raj’ Mr. Shah addressed three back-to-back public meetings in three different districts — Darbhanga, East Champaran, and West Champaran — covering nine Assembly constituencies. In Darbhanga, he attacked the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), saying that Bihar has seen the jungle raj of ‘Lalu-Rabri’ for 15 years — referring to former Chief Ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi — and nobody wants to bring those days back again. “Lalu ji did the fodder scam, land-for-job scam, hotel selling scam, bitumen scam, flood relief scam. Lalu-Rabri did so many scams and Congress has done scams worth ₹12 lakh crore. Can these people do any good for Bihar? Modi ji has ruled for 11 years and Nitish Babu has ruled for 20 years. There is not even a 4 paisa allegation of corruption against Nitish Babu and Modi ji,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Mr. Shah also accused the INDIA bloc of conducting a Voter Adhikar Yatra to protect “infiltrators”. In Motihari, Mr. Shah warned that if any mistake happens on November 6, then kidnapping, ransom, and jungle raj will return to Bihar. “Lalu-Rabri wants to make their son [Tejashwi Yadav] the Chief Minister, and Sonia ji wants to make her son [Rahul Gandhi] the Prime Minister. I want to tell both of them that neither Lalu’s son will become the Chief Minister, nor will Sonia Gandhi’s son become the Prime Minister. In Bihar, Nitish ji is in the Chief Minister’s chair, and in Delhi, Modi ji is in the Prime Minister’s chair,” Mr. Shah asserted. ‘Bihar’s development train’ BJP president J.P Nadda pushed a development narrative during his rally in the Barhara seat, followed by a road show in Gaya. “It took 20 years for Bihar’s development train to get back on track, and now this train is moving forward rapidly. Therefore, this election is one that will bring stability to Bihar and connect it with development. We have taken Bihar from lanterns to LEDs,” he said. “The NDA talks about ‘development’, and these people [the Opposition] talk about ‘crime’. Wherever our government is formed, development happens there, not crime,” said Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who addressed four public meetings in the Raghopur, Fatua, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, and Tarapur constituencies. Former Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur had a road show in Bankipur, along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Saw, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed a rally in Siwan. ‘Jobs or reels’ Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed three public meetings in the Aurangabad, Kutumba, and Wazirganj constituencies on the last day of the campaign, appealed to Bihar’s youth to voter for regime change, asking whether they want jobs or social media reels. Even after being in power for twenty years, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has not done anything other than turning Bihar’s talented youth into labourers, forcing them to do menial work across the country, he said. Instead of talking about reels, the Prime Minister should have spelt out how he will provide employment, education, and better healthcare to people, Mr. Gandhi added. He claimed that Mr. Kumar is just the mask of the government, being manipulated by Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah. “His remote control is in their hands, and they make him act at their will, just like changing channels with a TV remote,” Mr. Gandhi said. He accused the BJP of spreading the venom of hatred across the country. “India is the land of love and this country cannot be run on hatred,” he said, promising that the Opposition Mahagathbandhan would form an inclusive and representative government including the extremely backward classes, backward classes, Dalits, Maha Dalits, minorities, and the general category as well. The INDIA bloc’s Chief Ministerial face, Tejashwi Yadav, managed to address public meetings in 17 Assembly constituencies on the final day of campaigning by using a helicopter. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader accused the JD(U) and BJP of ruining Bihar over the last 20 years and failing to tackle key issues like unemployment and migration.
