Bihar Elections: ‘What Is The Caste Of Vikas?’
If one looks at the ticket distribution by various political parties in the fray, it would not be an anomaly to understand how caste alliances are formed
Let Chhath Be: Sanatanising Folk Hinduism For Electoral Dividends In Bihar
Artificial Yamuna, photo-ops doing Chhath rituals ahead of Bihar elections have now become an electoral strategy with PM Modi upping his attack on the Opposition saying they have called the Bihari festival "a drama" in response to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the BJP was "doing drama" of Chhath puja for votes. Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 have become a spectacle which now has the festival at its centre. Subir Sinha writes on the political and social appropriation of Chhath.
The Dye Was Always Caste In Bihar
For all the talk of ‘development first’ politics by NDA and Mahagathbandhan, Bihar remains a state where caste is the primary currency, especially so during Assembly elections
The ‘Hum’ Factor: How Bihar's Collective Mindset Helps It Navigate Politics Of Hope
By addressing themselves as ‘hum’, Biharis offer a collective motivation to act together in times of crisis and breakdown and demonstrate the ethical politics of hope as they navigate economic vulnerability, social conflict and political uncertainty
Bihar Election: Why Does No Party Address Land Reforms During Campaigning?
Land reforms, a largely unimplemented and mostly shelved programme, is considered central to Bihar’s growth. Yet, it has little currency during election campaigning
Bihar Assembly Elections And The Marketisation Of Politics
Elections stripped of ideology signal the rise of “marketisation” of politics—parties become brands, candidates turn into commodities and voters are treated as consumers to be enticed
Prashant Kishor: The Unreluctant Politician And The Reluctant Contester
The former poll strategist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is carving out a third corner in the Bihar contest by building a party of the ‘corporate’ type to woo voters from both sides of the NDA/INDIA fight
Caste Politics In Bihar: The EBC Vote Bank That Every Political Party Wants To Win Over
Political parties in Bihar are trying hard to woo members of Extremely Backward Classes, a loose collection of more than a 100 small, heterogeneous castes
Bihar Votes On Caste, Not Change: Dalits Still Left Out Of Power
The political foundation in Bihar is caste which carries the burden of its own class
Bihar Election: Will Jan Suraaj Matter This Time?
Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraaj shuns both the communal line of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the socialist agenda of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and focuses on a few key areas like education, health and development.
Scheming Schemes: Welfare Is The Kingmaker For Bihar Elections 2025
With the Chief Minister Women’s Employment Scheme, JEEViKA and similar programmes, Nitish Kumar has turned welfare into a powerful electoral strategy, forcing his rivals to follow suit
Bihar Elections: Is This Nitish Kumar's Final Innings Or Will He, Again, Be Chief Minister?
Can Nitish Kumar once again defy anti-incumbency in Bihar’s 2025 election?
Jungle Raj Still Casts A Long Shadow Over Bihar Politics
Successful attempts have been made in the past to end the Jungle Raj in Bihar by implementing processes like speedy trials and convictions of criminals. However, it is very much a part of Bihar politics even today
'Aap Chronology Samajhiye': Is Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision A Backdoor NRC?
Is the SIR a new avatar of the NRC by another name, being pushed through under the garb of cleansing the electoral rolls?
Bullet To An Amulet: How Arab Nationalism Has Failed Young Palestinians
Young Palestinians bristle with anger at the genocide. But that anger comes with paralysis.
Inside the 13th Berlin Biennale: Foxing, Fugitivity, And Resistance
The 13th Berlin Biennale explores themes of fugitivity, subversion and art’s endurance
Shah Rukh Khan At 60: The Last Of The Stars
At 60, the fact that Khan continues to hand out historical moments to his global fan base, reinforces the careful cultivation of his image as a “superstar” across the nearly four decades of his career.
Learning To Combust: A Review Of Arundhathi Subramaniam’s The Gallery of Upside Down Women
A remarkable collection that explores the ways in which the mystics of the past remain relevant to the challenges of the modern world
Teaching Is About Mutual Discovery And A Continuous Self-Renewal: Retirement Diary
Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Shafey Kidwai ponders on the lessons and trials he encountered during his time as an educator before retirement