Opposition manifesto set to counter NDA’s ‘jungle raj’ charges

The manifesto will focus on law and order, police reforms and a balanced approach to recruitment of police officers

For years now, the terms “sushasan” (good governance) and “jungle raj” have come to be associated with election campaigns in Bihar, with the former being touted as the big plus point of the Janata Dal (United) under Nitish Kumar and the latter, the big problem with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) under Lalu Prasad.

The Mahagathbandhan’s assurances on law and order come even as it is under attack from the BJP-led NDA over the issue of “jungle raj” (HT Photo)

It’s a charge, the RJD, and the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) of which it is a part of, have never been able to fully fight off –– but the grouping, which also includes the Congress the Left parties, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), claims to have a plan to do so this year, according to two senior leaders. The plan, they added on condition of anonymity, includes police reforms and a more balanced approach to police recruitment.

The Mahagathbandhan is expected to release its joint poll promises on October 28, after Chhath Puja, and these reforms are likely to be part of it. Some parties such as CPI-ML (Liberation) that are part of the alliance will come out with their own manifestos to cater to their vote base, the people said. The CPI-ML (Liberation)’s manifesto, which will release on October 26, will talk about ”increased spending on public health, common schooling, secure livelihoods, improving standard of living and jobs creation”.

The Mahagathbandhan’s assurances on law and order come even as it is under attack from the BJP-led NDA over the issue of “jungle raj”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the people of Bihar will “never forget the misdeeds of jungle raj for another 100 years. No matter how hard the Opposition tries to hide its misdeeds, people will not forgive it.”

Union home minister Amit Shah claimed that chief minister Nitish Kumar has freed Bihar from “jungle raj” in the past 20 years, claiming that the 15-year “jungle raj” era of the RJD (1990-2005) pushed Bihar back by almost half a century. In his first campaign for the 2025 assembly elections, chief minister Nitish Kumar highlighted how his government worked tirelessly to establish rule of law in the last two decades. To be sure, the RJD was his partner for some of this period (2015-17 and 2022-24).

According to the people cited above , the Opposition bloc’s promises will focus on law and order, police reforms, and a balanced approach to police recruitment at the ground level to enable aspirants of different castes to join the force.

They added that the grouping’s manifesto will also focus on three key areas: education, jobs and migration of labour. A third Mahagathbandhan leader, who is a part of the manifesto drafting exercise, said on condition of anonymity that more funding in education and job creation will be a key theme of the manifesto. Improvement in health service is set to be another main theme.

The Congress separately plans to come out with mini manifestos in the 61 seats where its candidates are fighting, this person added.

The alliance’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD has hit back at the BJP over allegations that victory of the Mahagathbandhan will bring back ‘jungle raj’. “When a road rage incident takes place in Bihar it is called jungle raj, but the highest cases of road rage take place in Delhi. So is there a jungle raj in Delhi? ” he said last week.

The term ‘jungle raj‘ refers to a period when the state faced major law and order violations and domination by certain groups leading to rampant theft . Official data from the central government shows that between 1990 to 2005, there were 18,136 murders, at least 32,000 kidnappings, and 59 cases of caste-related violence in Bihar.