Politics of Bihar
The political landscape of Bihar, a state in eastern India, is dominated by regional political parties., the main political groups are the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal , Indian National Congress, Left Front, Hindustani Awam Morcha, and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Additionally, there are smaller regional parties that include Samata Party, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party, Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party, and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party. As of 2025, Bihar is currently governed by the NDA, after the alliance's victory in the 2025 election.
Administration and governments
The constitutional head of the Government of Bihar is the Governor, appointed by the President of India. The Chief Minister and the cabinet hold executive power. The political party or the coalition of parties with a majority in the Legislative Assembly forms the government. The first Chief Minister of Bihar was Krishna Sinha, and the first Deputy Chief Minister was Anugrah Narayan Sinha.In 2014, the incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar succeeded Jitan Ram Manjhi, who was removed from office. In his previous term, Kumar resigned after the 2014 Indian general election, after which Manjhi took over.
The head of the state bureaucracy is the Chief Secretary. Under him is a hierarchy of officials drawn from the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and other wings of the state civil services. The Chief Justice heads the judiciary. Bihar has a High Court that has been functioning since 1916. All of the government headquarters are situated in the state capital of Patna.
For administrative purposes, the state of Bihar is divided into nine divisions—Patna, Tirhut, Saran, Darbhanga, Kosi, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Munger, and Magadh Division—which, between them, are subdivided into thirty-eight districts.
History
From 1937 to 1977
Since the pre-independence period, when the first Indian National Congress government was formed in the state in 1937, the politics of Bihar have largely been driven by caste consciousness. At the time of its formation, the Bihar Provincial Congress Party had two caste factions, led respectively by the Bhumihar Sri Krishna Sinha and the Rajput Anugrah Narayan Sinha. These two factions were contesting for power within Congress in the 1937 Indian provincial elections. Anugrah Narayan Sinha's refusal to contest the election smoothed the way for the rise of Sri Krishna Sinha to the post of the state's premier.Consequently, Sri Krishna Sinha became the first head of state, serving as the Chief Minister, until he died in 1961. Anugrah Narayan Sinha died in 1957. After the death of both these leaders, new caste factions were formed in Congress. While one of these factions was led by Binodanand Jha and Mahesh Prasad Sinha, another faction was led by Krishna Ballabh Sahay. There was a tussle between Binodanand Jha and Mahesh Prasad Sinha now for power; Jha represented Brahmins, and Sinha represented Bhumihars.
However, Binodanand Jha defeated Mahesh Prasad Sinha in the premiership race by forming a coalition of Rajput's, Brahmins, and Kayasthas, supported by Scheduled Castes and Muslims. Consequently, Jha was appointed as the new Chief Minister. However, after becoming Chief Minister, during one cabinet rearrangement, he didn't include Krishna Ballabh Sahay, who had supported him earlier. Rather, Jha gave primacy to Satyendra Narayan Sinha, son of Anugrah Narayan Sinha. This event led to the defection of Sahay towards the faction led by Mahesh Prasad Sinha.
As per one opinion, Sahay locked horns with Satyendra Narayan Sinha over his plan to give more representation to numerically preponderant Backward Castes like Ahir, Kurmi, and Koeri in government and administration. Binodanand Jha had restored the Zamindari Rights of Tatas in Jamshedpur in his tenure and when Jha resigned following the Kamraj Plan. To consolidate his power, Sahay after taking over the leadership of Bihar Congress in 1963, wanted to create a coalition of the numerically strong backward castes.
He frequently argued that members of the backward castes were underrepresented in politics and advocated for greater positions and representation for them. However, Satyendra Narayan Sinha viewed this stance as a challenge to the privileges held by the Upper caste groups. Sahay had the support of Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, an Upper Backward Caste leader in his bid. Consequently, S.N Sinha and Sahay were divided into rival political camps.
Post Independence: From 1950 to 1975
The first Bihar governments in 1946 were led by Shri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Narayan Sinha. After the independence of India, power was shared by these Gandhian nationalists: Krishna Sinha became the first Chief Minister and Anugrah Narayan Sinha served as the first Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister. The death of the central railway minister Lalit Narayan Mishra in a hand grenade attack in late 1960s brought an end to indigenous, work-oriented mass leaders. The Indian National Congress controlled the state for next two decades; at this time, prominent leader Satyendra Narayan Singh left the INC following ideological differences and joined the Janata Party.Bihar movement and aftermath: 1975–1990
After independence, when India was falling into an autocratic rule during the Indira Gandhi regime, the main thrust to the movement to hold elections came from Bihar under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan.In 1974, Narayan led the student's movement in Bihar, which gradually developed into the popular Bihar Movement, during which JP called for a peaceful "Total Revolution". He and V. M. Tarkunde founded the Citizens for Democracy in 1974 and the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 1976 to uphold and defend civil liberties. On 23 January 1977, Indira Gandhi called fresh elections for the following March and released all political prisoners. The Indian Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi officially ended on 23 March 1977.
In the election, the INC was defeated by the Janata Party, a coalition of several small parties created in 1977. The alliance was headed by Morarji Desai, who became the first non-INC Prime Minister of India. The Janata Party won all the fifty-four Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, taking power in the state assembly. Karpoori Thakur became the Chief Minister after winning a contest from the then-Janata Party President Satyendra Narayan Sinha.
The Communist Party in Bihar was founded in 1939. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the Communist movement in the state was led by veteran communist leaders Jagannath Sarkar, Sunil Mukherjee, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Indradeep Sinha, and Chandrashekhar Singh. Under the leadership of Sarkar, the Communist party fought the "total revolution" led by Jayprakash Narayan as the movement was anti-democratic and challenged the fabric of Indian democracy.
The Bihar Movement campaign warned Indians that the elections might be their last chance to choose between "democracy and dictatorship". As a consequence of the movement, the identity of Bihar, representing a glorious past, was lost. Its voice often used to get lost in the din of regional clamor of other states, specially the linguistic states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bihar also gained an anti-establishment image. The pro-establishment press often projected the state as undisciplined and anarchic.
Because the regional identity was slowly being sidelined, it was replaced by caste-based politics; power was initially in the hands of the Brahmins, Bhumihars and Rajputs. In the 1980s there was a change in the political scenario of Bihar: riding upon a popular movement of "social justice" and no vote without representation, the Upper OBC castes like Yadav, Kurmi, and Koeri replaced upper castes in politics.
S. N. Sinha's regime was known for deteriorating law and order, which included the 1989 Bhagalpur violence, one of the biggest riots in the state's history. A report tabled in the Bihar Legislative Assembly under the chairmanship of N. N. Singh blamed the Sinha-led INC government for the riots. The 1,000-page report outlined his and his administration's inactivity for almost two months, during which over 1,000 people—mostly poor Muslim weavers—were killed and 50,000 more were displaced.
In 1989, an anti-Congress wave defeated the entrenched INC, and Janata Dal came to power on an anti-corruption wave. In between, the socialist movement led by Mahamaya Prasad Sinha and Karpoori Thakur tried to break the status quo. The movement failed, due to the impractical idealism of its leaders and to the machinations of the INC's central leaders, who felt threatened by the large, politically aware state.
Law and order in Bihar: 1947-1990
Records of the time indicate that in the feudal society of Bihar, the Dalit and landless agricultural labourers suffered not only from the economic hardships but also the undignified practices like Dola Pratha practiced by the upper-caste groups notably, the Rajputs. Under this social practice, the newly wed bride of a Dalit Kamia was forced to spend her night before the marriage with the feudal lord. Other sources also indicate that the Dalit women were also sexually available to the upper-caste landlords, as they worked in their fields for low wages. It is also believed that the frequent rapes of these women from the families of agricultural labourers were the cause behind the rise of Naxalism in the Bhojpur region of Bihar, an area known for the prevalence of worst form of feudalism.The passage of Bihar's land reform legislation, which primarily benefited a few upper-backward caste groups, was followed by efforts by upper-caste landlords to retain substantial portions of their land by exploiting loopholes in the law. These developments contributed to the rise of Naxalite movements in the state. However, the class struggle in Bihar was complex, as some members of the upper-backward castes were also landlords. The involvement of the middle peasantry, particularly the upper-backward castes, in the conflict resulted in a two-front confrontation—against Dalits, who supported the Naxalite movement, and against the upper-castes, who were determined to preserve the existing social and economic order.
Besides the ongoing class struggle which became a caste war, the police excesses were also rampant in this period and atrocities by the police force on civilians were recorded. There are incidents of the police force abusing civilians, primarily from the lower castes. There are also instances in which, due to caste affiliation and similar factors, police personnel attacked villages inhabited by lower-caste communities after the private armies of upper-caste landlords perpetrated massacres during the 1970s