On a warm evening in Patna recently, a video clip lit up many smartphone screens. The AI-generated video depicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as dancing in the rain amid thunderstorm against the backdrop of a collapsed bridge. A catchy song played with a refrain, “jumlon ki baarish” (it’s raining lies), mocking their governance. It also showed RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav helping an old woman with lifting a heavy basket. The clip posted by RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad also had a tongue-in-cheek “weather warning” against “heavy rain and hailstorm of false promises”.
The RJD’s video highlights the transformation in the art of electioneering in Bihar – from the age of lanterns to the era of CGI clips.
This AI blitz is a far cry from the RJD’s traditional campaign playbook defined by Lalu Prasad’s rustic oratory, earthy humour and caste symbolism. Lalu needed no algorithms – his mass connect came from rural jokes and pastoral metaphors. Today, under Tejashwi Yadav’s leadership the RJD seems to have devised a new digital-powered campaign for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, which is marked with a data-led, meme-rich, and algorithmically amplified narrative.
बिहार हित में मौसम की चेतावनी- आज बिहार में झूठ, जुमलों और भ्रम की भारी बारिश हो रही है , गरज के साथ झूठे लुभावने वादों के ओले भी पड़ रहे हैं, संभल कर रहे। #Bihar #TejashwiYadav #RJD pic.twitter.com/VrGTcjRN98
— Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) June 20, 2025
The tone and texture of the campaign have changed because the electorate has changed. Bihar is one of India’s youngest states demographically, where the smartphone penetration has grown exponentially. “Now every household has Android phones. Every youth, man or woman, is watching videos. So through AI videos we are trying to take our ideology, thoughts and promises to more and more people,” says RJD spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta.
Digital turn
Tejashwi’s campaign makes the pitch for a generational change, which is reflected by the party’s messaging. “Driving a 20-year-old vehicle is not allowed in Bihar… Then why the 20-year-old Nitish government?” Tejashwi took a swipe at the nine-time CM in a post.
The RJD’s social media team lost no time in turning this slogan into a digitised visual. An AI-rendered cartoon illustrated an old sputtering car (tagged “20 Years of Nitish”) being overtaken by a shiny new vehicle symbolising Tejashwi’s leadership.
In an AI video, two women are shown talking about price rise as Tejashwi walks in with promises to ease their lives through cash doles and Rs 500 cylinders. In another AI graphic, Nitish is shown copying from Tejashwi’s papers in a mock exam room in what was a reference to the RJD leader’s pledge for increasing old age pensions being announced by the government later.
Recently, an AI video showed Tejashwi walking with Ambedkar – an unmistakable overture to the Dalit voter base while projecting a symbolic linkage between social justice and new governance. Such a packaging of message in a digital visual form has become a signature of Tejashwi’s campaign.
Across its social handles, the RJD seems to be speaking the language of digital natives: AI-generated spoofs on rivals; rap-laced animations targeting Nitish’s “U-turns”. The party’s X handle once posted a slick graphic proclaiming in Hindi, “Sabse nyara, sabka pyara, Tejashwi hamara” (our Tejashwi, unique leader, beloved by all), superimposed on the AI image of the RJD’s CM face.
Source: RJD
In another digital initiative, the RJD team is repackaging vintage Lalu jokes using AI. Taking archival footage of Lalu’s famous quips, it is using machine-learning tools to enhance its audio and video qualities before circulating them to remind people of the “Lalu magic”. The party believes that this would make older voters nostalgic while entertaining younger ones.
The RJD’s digital campaign is as much about form as it is about message. Subodh defines it as having a “tripod-like structure”. “Our campaign is built on the party’s ideology and organisational strength. Our use of technology for public outreach is the third pillar,” Mehta says, adding that the RJD’s network of grassroots workers gives it “offline depth” while tech provides “outreach to young and first-time voters”.
Counter-narrative
The RJD’s campaign had, earlier too, sought to counter the BJP-JD(U)’s unrelenting onslaught linking the RJD to “jungle raj”. But this time, its counter-narrative is marked with animations and infographics.
“We have demonstrated through data how the crime graph has gone through the roof under Nitish ji,” says Mehta. “We have also shown that the gap between Bihar’s per capita GDP and national GDP has only widened under the Nitish-led NDA government.”
The RJD has also launched the “Tejashwi Digital Force”, a tech-savvy volunteer network to distribute campaign content and counter “misinformation”. “There is a research team in the party, working on our responses backed by hard data,” Mehta adds. This digital team comprises in-house youth members and outsourced consultants.
RJD rivals
Just some days after the RJD’s “rain of jumlas” clip, the BJP’s X handle posted an AI-generated video song titled “Gangs of Ghotalaabaz”. This parody video cast the Lalu family as the “kingpin of scams”. In contrast to the RJD’s fiery jabs, the BJP’s posts have however been more restrained, focused on showcasing the NDA government’s “achievements”.
The JD(U) had been an early adopter of digital outreach. During the 2020 pandemic-hit Bihar polls, the party ran innovative virtual rallies and WhatsApp campaigns when physical rallies were limited. Nitish’s team even collaborated with over 300 online local influencers in a campaign called “Naya Bihar, Nayi Soch” (new Bihar, new thinking).
Ahead of the state Assembly polls due in a few months, the JD(U)’s social media content seems to be measured, with the party posting short documentaries on bridges or schools built in the last five years, or presenting the accounts of beneficiaries of various schemes. The tone of the party’s narrative echoes Nitish’s persona: earnest, albeit old-fashioned.
The Congress, a key ally of the RJD, has largely chosen to harmonise its online campaign with Tejashwi’s pitch.
Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas)) and other smaller NDA allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM (Secular) or Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM also maintain social media handles, with modest follower numbers. While Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor has been meeting people in the villages regularly, his social media handles post these interactions in long-form videos rather than snappy memes.
New outreach
With Bihar headed to a high-stakes elections, the RJD’s dovetailing of on-the-ground sloganeering to digital storytelling marks a generational and strategic shift in its mass outreach. While still riding on its cadre and ideology, the party now also relies on AI videos, memes and data to connect with voters beyond its traditional base. “Tejashwi ji always talks about youth and we are trying to reach them through various available media,” Mehta says.