Will Bihar help CM Nitish Kumar?

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been a prominent figure in politics for the past 20 years. But his influence has waned in recent elections. Lack of employment and industrialisation, and changes in alliances have dented his credibility. He faces a tough challenge in the 2025 elections as young voters are not supporting him.
Bihar has a unique role in determining national politics and its course. Many people like Karpuri Thakur and Jayaprakash Narayan have determined the politics of the nation. It was during this period that both Bihar’s economy and law and order went to the bottom. Nitish Kumar came to power at a time when everyone thought that Bihar would never recover. His slogan was stable and peaceful rule. Law and order gradually improved, roads, street lights and basic amenities even in the villages improved a little. Nitish was the unrivaled leader of Bihar. He who has been a topic of conversation for the last 20 years is a topic of conversation in this election as well. But whether Nitish is an unrivaled leader is a big question mark.
His reign, which lasted until 2017, has since slowly begun to decline. The constant change of alliances has reduced the trust people had in him. However, surprisingly, the alliance with which Nitish is in alliance has won. This did not happen by chance. Nitish’s victory in Bihar is a very planned victory. That is, he has made proper calculations and used it to his advantage to integrate communities. For example, his vote bank is the votes of the Most Backward Castes ( EBCs ), Mahadalits and the Kurmi-Ghori community. In addition, his government and vote bank are entirely based on welfare schemes. Most importantly, welfare schemes for women.
Even now, out of the total 243 assembly constituencies, 167 have more female voters than male voters. Surveys suggest that the National Democratic Alliance is likely to win about 90 of them.
Nitish has implemented various things for women, such as providing 35% reservation for women in government jobs and providing bicycles to female students going to higher secondary schools.
Have all these measures led to women’s empowerment? Or is it just symbolic politics? There are ongoing debates. But the political gains Nitish has made through this are immense.  Political observers say that it was with the aim of further strengthening this vote bank that he provided Rs. 10,000 to 75 lakh women through the Women’s Employment Scheme.
We can observe one thing across the country. The scheme of providing cash assistance to women has greatly helped political parties. It helped the Congress party in Karnataka in 2023, and the National Democratic Alliance in two states, Madhya Pradesh in 2023 and Maharashtra in 2024.
Even if the National Democratic Alliance wins the Bihar elections, it is questionable whether the state’s voters will support Nitish Kumar!