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EYE ON INDIA NOVEMBER 07, 2025 | The Indian Eye 8

BIHAR POLLS 2025

War of Words Escalates as

Campaign Enters Final Stretch

With days to go before the first phase of polling, verbal duels between BJP and the Opposition

have turned the Bihar election into a fierce battle of rhetoric and accusations.

OUR BUREAU
Patna

s Bihar gears up for a high-
stakes assembly election, the
Apolitical temperature in the
state has soared, with parties en-
gaging in a no-holds-barred war of
words. What began as sharp political
jibes has snowballed into a full-blown
controversy after the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint
against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
for his “dance” remark about Prime
Minister Narendra Modi — a com-
ment that has triggered outrage
within the ruling party and a spirited
counterattack from the Opposition.
The BJP’s formal complaint
to the Bihar Chief Election Officer
accuses Gandhi of making “highly
derogatory, indecent and personal Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addresses a Mahaghatbandhan election rally for the Bihar Assembly election, in Nalanda on Thursday (AICC/ANI Photo)
remarks” against the Prime Minis-
ter during rallies in Muzaffarpur and cused the BJP of being “issueless” and Ranjan Chowdhury said that under future where products are “Made in
Darbhanga on October 29. The par- using manufactured outrage to divert Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, the Op- Bihar, not Made in China.”
ty urged the Election Commission to attention from its governance failures position was united in exposing what For the BJP, the response has
take “immediate and exemplary ac- in Bihar. “Just imagine how issueless he called the “vote theft” strategy of been equally combative. Senior lead-
tion” against the Congress leader for a party can be. They have no agenda, the BJP. “Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi ers have accused the Congress of
violating the Model Code of Conduct no report card, no vision for the Bi- Yadav’s pair has stirred the BJP in Bi- dragging the campaign into the gutter
and “lowering the dignity of the Prime har elections, and yet they are mak- har. The people have seen through the and insulting the Prime Minister for
Minister’s office.” The BJP has even ing this an issue,” Khera said. He also drama. There is going to be a change electoral mileage. Party insiders say
sought a campaign ban on Gandhi, reminded the BJP that its leaders, in- in Bihar,” Chowdhury said. Former the BJP intends to highlight the “dis-
calling his comments a direct insult to cluding the Prime Minister, had often Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder respectful” tone of the Opposition as
India’s highest constitutional position. used harsh words against opponents. Singh Hooda added that the public evidence of its desperation. “Rahul
The controversy began when Ra- “A party whose Prime Minister uses mood was shifting. “People have made Gandhi has crossed all limits. He’s not
hul Gandhi, while addressing a rally in words like ‘mujra’ has the guts to ob- up their minds. Mahagathbandhan will just attacking Modi but the very office
Muzaffarpur, accused Prime Minister ject to the word ‘dance’? What bigger form the next government. No matter of the Prime Minister,” a BJP spokes-
Modi of being willing to “do anything joke could there be?” he added. how many big leaders BJP sends, it’s person said.
for votes.” “He just wants your vote. As the political slugfest inten- the people who will vote,” he said. As the countdown to polling day
If you ask him to do a drama, he will. sifies, both camps have turned the At rallies across the state, Rahul begins, the Bihar campaign stands as a
If you tell Narendra Modi to dance, campaign into a battle of narratives. Gandhi has continued to hammer mirror to Indian politics itself — noisy,
he will dance,” Gandhi told a cheer- For the Congress and its Mahagath- the ruling party on bread-and-butter emotive, and polarized. Between the
ing crowd, taking a swipe at what he bandhan allies, including the Rash- issues. In Sheikhpura, he questioned BJP’s claims of dignity and Congress’s
described as Modi’s performative pol- triya Janata Dal (RJD), the strategy why Bihar’s youth have to migrate insistence on calling out “hypocrisy,”
itics. The BJP immediately pounced is clear — attack the BJP over unem- for jobs and medical treatment. “A voters now face a different kind of
on the remark, framing it as an “un- ployment, price rise, and the lack of city like Dubai was built by the hard contest — not just between alliances,
becoming and personal attack” that opportunities in Bihar. For the BJP, work of Biharis. Then why can’t Bihar but between tone and temperament.
“crosses the line of decency and dem- the focus is on Prime Minister Modi’s provide jobs for its own people?” he In the end, it is Bihar’s electorate
ocratic discourse.” personal credibility, welfare schemes, asked. He called for Bihar to reclaim that will decide which argument, and
Congress, however, hit back hard. and the party’s promise of stability. its legacy as a centre of education and which attitude, truly deserves to take
Party spokesperson Pawan Khera ac- Senior Congress leader Adhir knowledge, urging voters to imagine a centre stage.

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