BJP's Bihar playbook: religion, repression and polarisation

The 2025 Bihar elections have emerged as more than a state-level contest; they are a reflection of the evolving political doctrine of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — one that blends religion, repression and the careful construction of external threats to consolidate power. Bihar, historically a site of social movements and caste politics, has now become the testing ground for a new experiment in political control and ideological uniformity.

In recent months, the BJP's campaign rhetoric in Bihar has undergone a notable shift. Development, once the centrepiece of Modi-era politics, has been quietly replaced by the language of identity and grievance. The emphasis has moved from vikas (development) to virasat (heritage), and from governance to faith. The party has perfected the art of merging religious symbolism with political strategy, invoking the imagery of Hindu pride, cultural revivalism and national security to appeal to voters.

The shift is deliberate. Bihar, with its entrenched caste divisions and fragile economy, provides fertile ground for emotive politics. The party's messaging paints Hindus as victims of historical neglect and Muslims as perpetual beneficiaries of so-called appeasement. By turning majority anxiety into political mobilisation, the BJP has managed to overshadow discussions on unemployment, rural distress and the state's ailing public services.

At the same time, the suppression of dissent has become an inseparable feature of the BJP's electoral approach. Opposition leaders find themselves entangled in corruption cases and procedural investigations that conveniently intensify during campaign seasons. The media, increasingly constrained by economic and political pressure, amplifies the government's narrative while marginalising alternative voices. The state machinery has been systematically aligned to reinforce the ruling party's dominance, blurring the boundaries between state and party.

Equally significant is the deployment of the anti-Pakistan narrative within the Bihar campaign. Once confined to national security debates, it now permeates local politics. In speeches and rallies, references to Pakistan are invoked not to address foreign policy but to sustain a heightened emotional climate among voters. By projecting external hostility, the BJP effectively deflects attention from domestic failures. The narrative equates dissent with disloyalty, recasts opposition parties as conspirators, and frames electoral choice as a moral test of patriotism.

This use of Pakistan as an ideological construct serves a dual purpose. It reinforces Hindu nationalist sentiment while creating a convenient "other" against which the BJP can position itself as the sole guardian of India's unity and security. In Bihar, a state where Muslim communities have long been an integral part of its cultural fabric, this narrative deepens divisions that were once mitigated by shared histories of struggle and coexistence.

The BJP's campaign strategy reflects a broader redefinition of democracy in India. Elections are no longer about governance or policy outcomes but about moral binaries, nationalism versus betrayal, faith versus threat, unity versus subversion. The result is a form of democratic theatre in which voters are compelled to choose sides not between competing visions of governance, but between competing claims of loyalty to the nation.

This reorientation has been accompanied by the weakening of key democratic institutions. The Election Commission operates under visible pressure, civil society faces constant scrutiny, and the judiciary often avoids confrontation with the executive. When institutions bend to political will, elections lose their capacity to hold governments accountable and instead become instruments to legitimise their power.

For opposition parties in Bihar, the challenge is formidable. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and smaller regional groups have struggled to build a cohesive counter-narrative that can cut through the noise of religious polarisation. Their focus on governance and social justice finds limited traction in an environment dominated by emotive appeals to identity. The BJP's control over political discourse ensures that alternative visions are either ignored or ridiculed.

Yet, the real cost of this transformation is borne by ordinary citizens. Bihar remains one of India's poorest states, with limited industrialisation, high unemployment and a persistent exodus of young workers to other regions. These structural problems require sustained policy focus, but the political conversation remains consumed by cultural symbolism and imagined threats. By substituting performance with perception, the BJP has turned political communication into a substitute for governance itself.

For Pakistan and other external observers, Bihar's election offers an insight into the BJP's long-term ideological project. The repetition of anti-Pakistan rhetoric in domestic campaigns suggests that foreign policy is no longer an arena of diplomacy alone but a tool for shaping domestic political identity. It illustrates how external hostility is being domesticated into electoral capital — a means of constructing unity through fear.

The 2025 Bihar elections thus represent more than a state contest; they are a referendum on the future of India's democratic pluralism. The BJP's strategy combines three reinforcing elements: the instrumentalisation of religion; the repression of dissent; and the manufacture of perpetual external threat. Together, they create a self-sustaining cycle of emotional politics that sidelines the language of rights, equality and governance.

The BJP's Bihar playbook demonstrates that in contemporary India, political success depends less on policy performance and more on the capacity to transform fear into faith and faith into votes.