Nitish to Tejashwi, BJP to Congress, why jobs have become theme song of Bihar polls

Indian Express

19-07-2025

In March 2024, just on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, standing before a large gathering in Patna's Gandhi Maidan, RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, set the tone for not only the parliamentary polls but also the next electoral showdown — the 2025 Assembly polls.
'BJP is a factory of lies… RJD stands for Rights, Jobs and Development,' Tejashwi thundered at the Jan Vishwas Maha Rally, putting unemployment and migration at the heart of his party's campaign. This pitch has only grown sharper in the run-up to the Assembly polls slated for October-November this year. The party has since, in each public meeting, social media post or press statement, sent out its message to the people of the state: 'Give us 20 months, and we'll deliver what the NDA couldn't in 20 years.'
Rising in response, Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar has rolled out a slew of policy measures and employment drives.
In Bihar, unemployment is no longer a statistical matter. For it seems to have now become a key issue of public discourse, a rallying cry in campaigns, a prism through which both performances and promises of various parties are seen.
The RJD's messaging has remained consistent. The party's social media posts have been centred on Tejashwi's pitch for 'work, jobs, employment, policy, and development'. The RJD has made a raft of poll pledges: 10 lakh government jobs, an unemployment allowance, a Youth Commission, and a domicile-based job policy for the Bihari youth. Beneath these big promises lies a clear strategy: to frame the state's long-standing job and migration crisis and lack of industrialisation as a 'direct consequences of NDA misrule' — and position the RJD as the force that would 'stem migration by generating jobs at home'. 'Our youth will no more migrate in search of jobs,' Tejashwi said last month. 'No Bihari will need to leave the state for employment under the RJD rule.'
Nitish has sought to counter the Opposition's campaign through various moves. In June alone, he has unveiled various programmes for youth empowerment. On July 2, he launched the CM-PRAATYAY scheme, offering stipends ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 to one lakh interns across Bihar. A week later, the Nitish-led NDA Cabinet approved the creation of the Bihar Youth Commission, which is tasked with prioritising local hiring, suggesting employment reforms, and combating substance abuse.
Nitish has also ramped up his government's employment targets. 'By August 2025, we will have provided 12 lakh government jobs and 38 lakh other employment opportunities,' he claimed on July 13. 'And from 2025 to 2030, we're aiming for one crore more.' A high-level committee is being formed for this proposal to be driven by both the government and the private sector.
As part of of this exercise, the government is pushing for skill development, even proposing Jananayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University, named after the socialist icon and ex-CM.
The JD(U) is trying to build a narrative that the party has not only been generating government jobs but also creating 'an ecosystem for both public and private sector employment opportunities'.
Also, the Nitish government is trying to attract investments through Bihar's Industrial Investment Promotion Policy. Since its announcement in 2016, the policy has resulted in getting over 3,800 investment proposals, of which over 3000 are at various stages of approval and operation, government sources said. As of December 2024, 780 industrial units were operational, employing about 34,000 people. The state has a land bank of over 3,000 acres and is acquiring more land. Plug-and-play industrial sheds cover 2.4 million square feet, ready for immediate use. Nitish has also been busy inaugurating new industrial units ahead of the polls.
While several observers argue that the Nitish government's industrial policy has fallen short of its promise for transformation, citing the modest job numbers, Bihar's Industry secretary Mihir Kumar Singh said the state has received proposals worth Rs1.81 lakh crore of which Rs 84,000 crore worth investments have been 'committed'. Big-ticket investors like Adani, Ambuja Cements and Coca-Cola are also investing in the state.
Earlier this month, the Nitish government unveiled its Renewable Energy Policy 2025, which aims to make Bihar a leading state in renewable energy production, while also promising to generate 1.25 lakh jobs.
However, the Opposition has remained unimpressed. The RJD has dubbed these announcements a case of 'copycat governance', accusing the NDA of lifting its proposals after '17 years of inertia'. 'Bihar's youth want jobs, not government drama,' Tejashwi said. 'We won't let the youth waste their prime years any more.'
RJD MP Sudhakar Singh said the people would not believe in the NDA's promises. 'They (NDA) have delivered nothing on the job front in the past 20 years. The RJD can make jobs an election issue, the NDA cannot,' he claimed.
JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, however, said people's trust in Nitish is based on his track record. 'Even though between 2005 and 2014 we had an adversary (UPA government) at the Centre, we created eight lakh jobs. In the past five years we have given 12 lakh jobs and created 39 lakh employment opportunities. Now we are promising 1 crore jobs. These are not announcements made out of thin air. Nitish Kumar never makes an announcement without a robust plan behind it. We are doing whatever it takes to make Bihar a developed state,' Prasad said, claiming how Nitish has 'delivered on all his promises — from law and order to women empowerment'.
The RJD's key Mahagathbandhan ally Congress has also sought to echo the RJD's plank. Through its 'Naukri Do Ya Satta Chhodo' yatra, the Congress has flagged five lakh pending vacancies and demanded 'same-pay-for-same-work' guarantees. Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Kanhaiya Kumar, have tried to connect unemployment with the larger issues of inequality, caste injustice, and migration.
The BJP has kept the focus on the NDA's delivery record, castigating the Opposition for promising 'impossible freebies'. BJP leaders have dismissed the RJD's claims as 'populist jumlas', citing '10 lakh jobs already provided by the NDA government'.
With every major contender amplifying their job narratives, the issue, which has always remained an undercurrent in the Bihar polls, has clearly taken centrestage this time.