On December 4, 2025, the Bihar Legislative Assembly convened for a session that would ultimately reflect both the state’s recent electoral controversies and its ongoing development ambitions. The chamber, filled with ruling party and opposition lawmakers, passed a motion of thanks on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s address by a voice vote—an event punctuated by moments of heated debate, laughter, and pointed political statements. Yet, beneath the surface, the proceedings revealed deeper undercurrents about the fairness of the recent elections, the state of governance, and the future of democracy in Bihar and beyond.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at the heart of the action, used the occasion to highlight what he described as two decades of progress since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) first assumed power in Bihar in 2005. "We have upheld the rule of law since the NDA government first came to power in the state on November 24, 2005. We have been working for the development of Bihar for the last 20 years. The state’s development is our aim and we keep thinking about it day and night," Kumar asserted, according to ETV Bharat. He pointed to sweeping improvements in education—such as the appointment of 520,000 teachers—and in healthcare, where average monthly visits to primary health centers had soared from just 39 to over 11,600. The number of government medical colleges had doubled from six to twelve, and ambitious construction projects were underway in 27 districts.
Healthcare infrastructure, Kumar emphasized, was on the brink of a transformation. The Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) was being renovated and expanded to 5,400 beds, aiming to become one of the largest hospitals in the country. Similar expansions were planned for other major hospitals, and the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGIMS) was set to grow to 3,000 beds. These projects, Kumar said, were part of a broader commitment to improving the lives of Bihar’s residents in areas ranging from women’s empowerment and agriculture to roads, electricity, drinking water, and employment. "We have provided Rs 10,000 to 1.56 crore women under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana. Those whose work progresses well would be given Rs 2 lakh more," Kumar noted, reflecting the government’s focus on direct cash transfers and self-help groups, which now count 14 million rural and 434,000 urban women as members.
But the day’s session was not without controversy or criticism. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Kumar Sarvjeet, representing Bodh Gaya, challenged the government’s development narrative by highlighting persistent disparities in Dalit localities. He claimed that essential infrastructure, such as drains and roads, had not reached these marginalized communities, and he questioned whether his own Dalit background would affect his right to speak in the Assembly. His remarks sparked a rebuttal from Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar, who insisted that improvements had been made, especially at the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) in Gaya. "A new super specialty hospital has been constructed on three acres of land at the ANMMCH campus at a cost of Rs 200 crore by the efforts of the Prime Minister and the chief minister," Prem said.
The debate also saw the two deputy chief ministers, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha (both from the BJP), issue stern warnings to lawbreakers. Sinha declared, "We will run bulldozers on the chests of sand and land mafia. I am suggesting as a friend to change your lifestyle because the weather has changed, else you would fall ill. You should quit the mentality of anarchy and stay under good governance." Choudhary, meanwhile, underscored the government’s commitment to providing food, housing, and other essentials without regard to caste, and boasted of free electricity and the crackdown on organized crime.
Yet, the session’s most striking moment came when Nitish Kumar hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support and urged all Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to show respect by raising their hands. "We salute Prime Minister Narendra Modi for paying attention to Bihar. He visited the state several times in the recent years," Kumar declared. When opposition MLAs hesitated, Kumar pressed them: "Don’t you see how much work has been done? Why are you not raising your hands?" The exchange, which ended in laughter, nevertheless underscored the state’s political realignment and the chief minister’s firm anchoring within the NDA.
However, the backdrop to these declarations of progress was a recent election widely criticized for its fairness. The Election Commission of India (ECI) came under fire for permitting the transfer of funds to women under welfare schemes after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) had come into effect during the 2025 Bihar elections. According to The Hindu, funds were disbursed while voting was still ongoing—a move that many believe tilted the playing field in the NDA’s favor. The controversy was not isolated to Bihar. In 2024, the ECI delayed announcing election dates for Maharashtra, allowing the state government to launch a similar direct cash transfer scheme before the MCC was enforced. The perception of bias has, as The Hindu noted, left the ECI’s reputation "at its poorest ever in contemporary history."
Elsewhere, the ECI’s actions have varied dramatically depending on the political context. In West Bengal, for example, the Centre has withheld funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for years, despite a Supreme Court order on October 27, 2025, to restore them. The state has also been embroiled in a contentious Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has led to reported suicides among Booth Level Officers and demands from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to end what she called an "inhumane" exercise. The SIR’s strict requirements have particularly affected the Matua community—a Hindu Scheduled Caste group that migrated from Bangladesh—by forcing them to choose between applying for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or retaining access to welfare schemes.
In Assam, the ECI has taken a different approach. Despite the exclusion of 1.2 million Hindus and 700,000 Muslims from the National Register of Citizens, the commission has so far avoided implementing a stringent SIR, highlighting what critics see as a pattern of selective enforcement. Meanwhile, in November 2025, the ECI issued a circular allowing Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to be appointed from anywhere within a constituency, rather than requiring them to be registered voters of the specific area—a change that could have significant implications for party organization and oversight at polling stations.
Back in Bihar, the opposition’s frustration with the election process was palpable. CPI (ML) legislator Sandeep Saurav declared, "Nobody from the treasury or the Opposition benches thanked Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar despite the fact that the Bihar Assembly election was the most unfair poll in the history of the country and was a fraud in the name of election." The absence of Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, reportedly on holiday in Europe, only added to the sense of a fractured opposition and a state in transition.
As the assembly session closed, the government’s hard stance was clear. The NDA’s leaders projected a vision of relentless development, law and order, and a close partnership with the central government. Yet, the shadow of controversy—over electoral integrity, social equity, and governance—remained. For Bihar, and for India’s democracy, the events of December 2025 offered both a snapshot of progress and a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead.
