Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (far right) and Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Tejashwi Yadav (in white) | Photo credit: File photo
Dynasts continue to dominate Bihar’s political scene, with a significant number of candidates being either sons, daughters, wives or close relatives of established politicians.
Experts say no party in Bihar can claim moral superiority on this basis when it comes to the entry of dynasts into politics.
Also Read: Bihar Election 19 October 2025 Update
The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11 and the results will be declared on November 14.
Prominent sons, daughters and wives in contention from various political parties are RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav (younger son and heir of party supremo Lalu Prasad) from Raghopur, BJP’s Samrat Choudhary (son of former minister Shakuni Choudhary) from Tarapur, Shahabster-Gang, the Osed-ama of Shahabster-Gang. late Mohammad Shahabuddin) of Raghunathpur.
Also in the fray are Rashtriya Lok Morcha’s Snehlata (wife of party chief Upendra Kushwaha) from Sasaram, BJP’s Nitish Mishra (son of former chief minister Jagannath Mishra) from Jhanjharpur, HAM’s Deepa Manjhi from I. Sister-in-law of union minister Janmaganj, Janmaganj’ I. Jagriti Thakur (granddaughter of legendary socialist leader Karpoori Thakur) from Morwa and Chanakya Prasad Ranjan (son of JD(U) Bank MP Girdhari Prasad Yadav) who filed his nomination papers as RJD candidate from Belhar seat.
Besides, Komal Singh of JD(U) (daughter of MP Veena Devi of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)) is contesting from Gaighat, Chetan Anand of JD(U) (son of MP Lovely Anand) from Nabinagar, Nitin Nabin (son of late BJP leader Nabin Kishore Sinha, Sananrai Bank) BJP leader Ganga Prasad Chaurasia) from Digha and Rahul Tiwary (son of RJD veteran Shivanand Tiwari) from Shahpur.
Rakesh Ojha (son of BJP leader late Visheshwar Ojha) from Shahpur, Veena Devi (wife of Surajbhan Singh who recently joined RJD) from Mokama and Shivani Shukla (daughter of RJD strongman Munna Shukla) from Lalganj are also contesting.
“General population politically unaware”
Vidyarthi Vikas, Assistant Professor (Economics), AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies (Patna), commented on the entry of dynasts into PTI politics, “The way dynasts are entering politics shows that now all political parties least bother about ideological commitments, constitutional values and also democratic principles.
“People should raise their voices against dynasts who easily enter politics because they belong to established political families. This is also because education has never been prioritized in Bihar in the last 77 years,” said Vikas. No party in Bihar can claim moral superiority on this basis when it comes to the entry of dynasts into politics, he added.
“The education level of the rural population in Bihar is very low. As per the latest caste survey, only 14.71% of the population have passed the 10th class exams. They are not politically aware and hence the political parties use the less educated voters and allow the dynasts to enter the electoral fray,” added Vikas.
An uneven playing field
RJD state unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary told PTI, “It is true that the common party worker does not think of contesting elections these days. At the same time when glamor has become an integral part of every Indian election, general party workers are not given priority.”
It is also a fact that unbridled use of funds by candidates and political parties has created an uneven playing field for elections, Tiwary added.
Bihar BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar told PTI, “BJP gives importance only to those leaders and workers who have done organizational work and those who are competent and committed to ‘jan seva’ (serving the people).
“We can take an example from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has worked at all levels of the party organisation. Our Prime Minister comes from a very simple background,” Mr Niraj added.
Published – 19 October 2025 21:57 IST
