Editor,
Will Bihar Ever See a Real Change – is the burning question today. As Bihar heads into yet another assembly election, one can’t help but wonder, is this just another season of tall promises, or could this finally be the dawn of real change?
The political heat is already rising. On one side, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav is making headlines with a big, bold promise, a law that guarantees one government job for every family within 20 days of coming to power. Sounds impressive, right? But in a state as crowded and complex as Bihar, where would those jobs even come from? It’s one of those promises that sound great on the mic but crumble under the weight of reality.
Then there’s Nitish Kumar, the seasoned JD(U) leader who’s been steering Bihar for nearly three decades. He’s built his brand around welfare politics, pensions for widows, the elderly, and the disabled, and new schemes like the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana to support women entrepreneurs. His intentions might be genuine, but the real question is – has Bihar actually changed in all these years?
Sure, Nitish might have ended the RJD’s so-called “Jungle Raj,” but the truth is, Bihar still ranks among India’s poorest and least developed states. Roads may be smoother and offices cleaner, but opportunities are still hard to find.
Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor the political strategist turned reformer is shaking things up in his own way. His promises sound fresh: lifting the liquor ban, giving ₹2,000 a month to senior citizens, and focusing on practical governance. But there’s a twist he’s not contesting the elections himself. And that leaves people wondering, how much change can a reformer bring from outside the battlefield?
And of course, there’s the Congress, still caught in its own maze of indecision. From seat-sharing confusion to internal rifts, it feels like the party can’t make up its mind, even as the election clock keeps ticking.
Bihar’s politics has always been a game of alliances and promises. One election after another, people hear the same speeches, see the same faces, and watch the same drama unfold only the slogans change. Governments rise and fall, but the lives of the common people? They mostly stay the same.
So, as campaign slogans echo through the streets and every leader paints a vision of “a new Bihar,” the question lingers – who will actually walk the talk?
Will this election bring real progress? Or will it just be another chapter in Bihar’s long story of promises and disappointments?
Because at the end of the day, the biggest question remains,
Will Bihar ever see real change, or just a new face for the same old story?
Yours etc.,
Krish Marwein,
St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru
A red sunset on the horizon (Decline of Naxalism)
Editor,
The Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, originating in 1967, has long represented tribal and rural resistance, but today faces declining relevance due to government crackdowns and changing socio-economic conditions. Naxalism is a form of Left Wing Extremism that aims to overthrow the state using violent means inspired by the Maoist ideology which began in Naxalbari village West Bengal in 1967 as a tribal-peasant uprising and impacted many states of the country. Now the government has vowed to end the insurgency by March 2026 and in this regard in 2025, 270 Naxals were killed, 680 arrested and 1225 surrendered and security forces have killed key leaders like Basvaraj and many Central Committee members and now Maoists face shortage of arms, ammunition and recruits.
Once India’s biggest internal security challenge, spread across the, “Red Corridor “from Nepal’s border in the north to Andhra Pradesh in the south, covering parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Naxalism is now confined to small pockets in central India now, primarily in Chhattisgarh and with a limited presence in Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra. It is also notable that in 2013 ,126 districts reported Naxal violence but by March 2025 this dropped to 18 districts with only 6 classified as Most Affected.
What has always been a symptom of deeper malaise, eating into the roots of the republic are embedded inequality, rural unrest, lingering feudalism, and the exploitation of tribal communities and natural resources often to maximise the profits of corporates. The success of the security operations in Abujhmarh should not lead to complacency. This is because the symptoms of Maoism are ever present and they could erupt, once again. That is why the Central and state governments must work together to address local concerns.
They must remember that the tribal communities and others caught in the crossfire between security forces and Maoists have been the biggest victims of India’s gravest internal security challenge. They need empathy, support and care.
Addressing their concerns about employment, security, education, health and environment must form a central plank of the government. They must be made to feel that they are an integral part of Indian democracy.
The win in Abujhmarh is an opportunity to show that India is capable of embracing those who have lived on the country’s political peripheries for too long. This chance must not be lost.
Currently, there are only three top leaders who remain. They are Misir Bear, Thippari Tirupati, and Ganpati. On an estimate as to how many Naxalites may be remaining, officials say that the number could be in the range of 250 to 300. However, they are fighting hard for a variety of reasons. First, the leadership is very weak; second, they are falling short of arms and ammunition, and lastly, these persons have been forced to fight and have not been drawn by ideology.
However, the remaining Naxalites are more focused on protecting the three remaining top leaders. They are not trying to fight the security forces as they have realized that they may be killed. Officials also expect that out of the remaining Naxalites many will surrender and abandon their leadership. They have realized that fighting is futile, and the surrender of Venugopal has sent a strong message that the fight is over.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
