PatnaNovember 11, 2025 08:21 AM IST
First published on: Nov 11, 2025 at 08:21 AM IST
As Bihar gears up to vote in the second and final phase of the Assembly polls on Tuesday, former bureaucrat and JD(U) national general secretary Manish Verma speaks to The Indian Express on the BJP projecting Nitish Kumar as the NDA’s chief ministerial face, surge in women voters in phase 1, and Mahagathbandhan CM face Tejashwi Yadav’s promises, among other issues. Excerpts:
*After travelling across 70-odd of the 101 seats that the JD(U) is contesting, what do you sense from the ground?
We clearly saw that Nitish Kumar is the face of the election. There is a lot of talk about his goodwill as well as his social and political capital he has earned over the last 19 years as CM. There is a sense of deep trust in his leadership and a general feeling that ‘Nitishji hai toh sab thikke hoga (with Nitish in command, everything will be fine)’.
*Unlike past elections, why was Nitish not projected as the CM face before the polls?
Top NDA leaders have said right from the start that the election is being fought under Nitish’s leadership. Union Home Minister Amit Shah too has said that with Nitish as CM, there is no vacancy for chief ministership in Bihar.
It is true there has been some delay in getting this clarity but there have been no two ways about Nitish being the face of the ongoing elections.
*Aren’t your party colleagues split on the issue with Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and national working president Sanjay Jha having differing views?
What Lalan Singh said about MLAs choosing the CM is a part of the standard process. But top leaders of our other allies like the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) have been clearly endorsing Nitish as the CM face.
Also, who else is the alternative? A part of the media is peddling the narrative that Nitish would be replaced if the NDA comes back to power. It is all bunkum. Nitish will be the CM again.
*With some quarters labelling the polls as a dashazaria election, how do you see the surge in turnout of women voters in the first phase?
It will be unfair to call it a dashazaria election. Our government has been doing a lot for women empowerment – from granting 50% quota in panchayats to starting the bicycle scheme for schoolgirls to raising a 1.4-crore women force through the Jeevika scheme.
The surge in women voters is a sign of heavy pro-incumbency. It is a clear endorsement of women voters of Nitish’s pro-women and pro-poor policies.
*Didn’t your government give out too many doles just ahead of the polls?
They should not be called doles. The announcements were part of our pro-people policies. When Nitish says his government would provide 1 crore jobs, it means we have worked out our industrial policy and have clear plans. Before we announced Rs 10,000 each to 1.21 crore prospective women entrepreneurs, we already had a scheme in place which provided Rs 10 lakh to each woman entrepreneur as a mix of subsidy and grant.
*How do you think the NDA’s narrative is better than the Tejashwi-led Mahagathbandhan’s?
His promise of one government job per family has found no resonance among people as they know it is not a workable idea. His 10 lakh jobs promise in 2020 was plausible and we proved over the last three-four years that it is doable. What he (Tejashwi) is telling people shows his lack of planning. His tall promises have no takers.
*If the NDA is so confident of delivering on promises, why do you keep talking of ‘jungle raj’ instead of focusing on good governance?
(RJD chief) Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar have different legacies and there will be comparisons. It is an election of two memories – the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule and the 20-year Nitish rule.
*How do you see Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor?
He is a social media creation. He has been talking of data, which we are also aware of. Can he give jobs to all migrants in one go? We too are working to create employment. We do not see any Prashant Kishor factor in this election. Media management and people management are different things.