Bihar polls: Mahagathbandhan manifesto puts Tejashwi at the centre

The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), which is currently in the Opposition in Bihar, has released its 2025 election manifesto titled Tejashwi Pran (Tejashwi’s Pledge), presenting a wide-ranging agenda focused on employment, welfare, and governance reforms. The document, described as the INDIA bloc’s Sankalp Patra, carries the slogan Sampoorna Bihar ka Sampoorna Parivartan.

The manifesto’s central promises include one government job per family within 20 days of forming the government, a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500 for women, and 200 units of free electricity per household. Other key commitments involve the revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), regularisation of contractual employees, and a substantial expansion in education and healthcare infrastructure.

Speaking on Capital Beat, The Federal's Political Editor Puneet Nicholas Yadav and senior journalist Ashok Mishra discussed the implications, feasibility, and political messaging behind the alliance’s ambitious blueprint for Bihar.

Congress absence and Tejashwi’s central role

A key highlight of the event was the absence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the manifesto release. Puneet Nicholas Yadav clarified that Rahul was scheduled to attend rallies in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga the following day, not the launch event itself.

“There was never any plan for Rahul Gandhi to be at the release. The idea was to keep Tejashwi front and centre of this entire exercise,” said Yadav. The decision, he explained, was a strategic one — to project Tejashwi Yadav as the face of the alliance and the chief ministerial candidate.

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Yadav added that while some sections within the Congress might be uneasy about the document being titled "Tejashwi Pran", all parties within the alliance, including the Left and smaller partners, had contributed to its drafting. “It’s as much a branding exercise as it is a political strategy,” he observed.

Populist promises amid fiscal challenges

Discussing the feasibility of the manifesto, senior journalist Ashok Mishra noted that Bihar’s financial position posed a major challenge. “Financially, Bihar is not sound at the moment,” he said, adding that the state already carries a debt exceeding Rs 3.5 lakh crore.

The alliance’s promise of one government job per family and the regularisation of contractual workers, he said, will require careful financial planning and accountability. Despite this, Mishra acknowledged that the manifesto serves as a political declaration of intent and a tool to shape public narrative.

Mishra pointed to earlier instances when Tejashwi Yadav, as deputy chief minister in the previous government, had successfully implemented job drives, distributing appointment letters to thousands of teachers and officials. “If there is intent, it can be done. But the scale and the time target are ambitious,” he said.

Expansive welfare pledges and education focus

The Tejashwi Pran manifesto outlines multiple welfare schemes, including free electricity up to 200 units per household and subsidised LPG cylinders at Rs 500 for poor families. Women are promised a monthly aid of Rs 2,500 under the Mai-Behin Maan Yojana, beginning December 1.

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Additional measures include health insurance coverage up to Rs 25 lakh per person, monthly pensions of Rs 1,500 for widows and senior citizens with annual increments, and Rs 3,000 for persons with disabilities. A strong emphasis has been placed on education, with plans to establish women’s colleges in every subdivision and new degree colleges in 136 blocks currently without one.

The revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) has also been presented as a core demand. Mishra noted that “employees in Bihar have been agitating for the return of the old pension system,” making the promise politically significant.

Minority outreach and the Waqf Amendment Bill

The manifesto also pledges to “resist any unconstitutional law imposed by the Centre” and protect the constitutional rights of minorities. It includes a commitment to put the Wakf Amendment Bill on hold and make the management of Waqf properties more transparent.

Yadav explained that the move reflects a deliberate outreach towards Bihar’s Muslim community, which constitutes around 18 per cent of the population. “It’s natural that a secular alliance would address concerns arising from the Waqf Amendment Act, which has caused unease among Muslims,” he said.

Yadav argued that such commitments were expected from any secular formation in Bihar. “If the alliance had not spoken about the issue, it would have been criticised for abandoning the community. Addressing it is part of political responsibility,” he observed.

Electoral implications and polarization risks

While acknowledging the necessity of engaging with minority issues, Yadav noted that the alliance must also navigate the risks of polarization. “In constituencies where Muslim votes are not decisive, such promises could be used by opponents to stoke polarization,” he said.

Also read: Tejashwi: Law and order completely collapsed in Bihar, NDA govt least bothered

He added that the BJP and its allies have historically used communal issues to shape electoral discourse. “Whether or not the Grand Alliance raises minority concerns, the BJP is likely to bring up polarization one way or another,” Yadav remarked.

The panel noted that manifesto promises alone may not decide the outcome. Effective campaign management, candidate selection, and grassroots mobilisation will be key to translating the document into electoral success.

NDA’s changing dynamics and Nitish Kumar’s position

In the latter part of the discussion, the panel examined shifting dynamics within the NDA. Chirag Paswan’s recent endorsement of Nitish Kumar as leader has drawn attention to evolving power equations within the alliance.

Yadav pointed out that while allies such as Paswan have spoken in Nitish Kumar’s favour, the BJP leadership has stopped short of naming him the official chief ministerial face. “It’s ironic — the allies have endorsed Nitish, but the BJP has not made a formal announcement,” he said.

He added that this ambiguity might be a “calculated manoeuvre” by the BJP to defer the decision to a post-poll scenario. Despite visible unity in public, internal concerns persist among sections of the JD(U) about the lack of emphatic projection of Nitish Kumar’s leadership.

(The content above has been transcribed from video using a fine-tuned AI model. To ensure accuracy, quality, and editorial integrity, we employ a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) process. While AI assists in creating the initial draft, our experienced editorial team carefully reviews, edits, and refines the content before publication. At The Federal, we combine the efficiency of AI with the expertise of human editors to deliver reliable and insightful journalism.)