The Indian National Congress has played a pivotal role in shaping Bihar’s industrial, infrastructural, and social landscape. Under its leadership, Bihar witnessed landmark projects such as Asia’s largest rail yard at Garhara, India’s first fertilizer factory in Sindri, the Barauni Refinery, the Navinagar Thermal Power Plant, and the Damodar Valley Project, alongside major river-valley and flood-control initiatives like the Koshi project. The establishment of the Nabinagar Thermal Power Plant was a landmark in Bihar’s industrial development, and the 33 sugar mills across the state provided employment to lakhs of Biharis. Equally revolutionary were the Congress’ efforts in advancing social justice and education. The abolition of the Zamindari system under the leadership of Shri Krishna Sinha was one of the most important steps in advancing democracy and equality in Bihar. The contributions of Shri Babu Jagjivan Ram, the longest serving Union Minister in the history of Independent India, can never be forgotten. Leaders such as Bhola Paswan Shastri and Sumitra Devi championed the rights of marginalized communities. The INC’s vision also laid a strong foundation in healthcare and higher education with the establishment of premier institutions like Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Nalanda Medical College, and Magadh University. From empowering the underprivileged to modernizing its industries, the Congress’ contribution to Bihar remains a legacy of progress, reform, and inclusivity. Today, the journey which Bihar began under the INC’s leadership – towards becoming a prosperous, fully democratic and egalitarian society - is under unprecedented threat.

The Congress Working Committee declares that the conspiracy of the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls is the greatest threat to our democracy today. As evident in Bihar, this process has been designed to systematically rob citizens from marginalized communities like Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, and Minorities of their Right to Vote. This disenfranchisement through the attack on the Right to Vote will culminate in snatching away their rights in government welfare schemes as well as their constitutionally guaranteed reservations. When the vote of the people is stolen, their future, their dignity, and their constitutional entitlements are stolen along with it.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Shri Rahul Gandhi, undertook the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar to oppose this exclusionary and anti-democratic exercise. The Yatra carried a clear message to every village and every street of Bihar that unless each citizen’s vote is protected, their rights, their future and, by extension, that of democracy can never be secure. This struggle was strengthened with the unprecedented response and participation of the people of Bihar.

The people of Bihar have been pushed to the streets in anger and defiance also because of Nitish Kumar’s broken promises and betrayals. In his 20 years as the CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar has done too little to empower the people of Bihar. Sugar output which was once 27% has collapsed to mere 3% while industrial development has been abysmal. Only 33% of the capital requirements are fulfilled within the state - leaving Bihar dependent on the Centre and development banks and loans. This debt-vulnerability has only further impoverished the state.

Especially since the JD(U)’s unholy alliance with the BJP, corruption and crime have proved to be the two real engines of the so-called “double engine sarkaar.” The government is a ‘Note Chor’ is evident in the CAG’s findings of 49,649 pending utilisation certificates in Bihar that amount to a staggering ₹70,877 crore. To call it corruption would be an understatement. It is organised loot, a daylight dacoity by a regime that has fattened itself while bleeding the people dry. Yet, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Corruption scams worth hundreds of crores have surfaced around Nitish Kumar’s closest aide. Raid on his officials throws up shocking scenes with crores hidden in water tanks, stuffed into toilet pipes, even half-burnt bundles of cash destroyed in panic.

Simultaneously, while crores of common Biharis are struggling on the streets - hungry, homeless and landless - the NDA government has leased over a thousand acres of land in Bhagalpur to its crony benefactor, Adani at the rate of `1 per acre per year for a power project. In carrying out this project, the government did not consult or seek the consent of the farmers whose land is being snatched. It is also ironic that the same electricity for which the land and the environmental heritage of Bihar is being sacrificed will be costlier in Bihar than it is in Gujarat. This move will not only drain the state exchequer of thousands of crores every year, but lakhs of mango trees that produce export-quality fruit will have to be axed. And when the farmers opposed the idea, the NDA government chose not to hear them but to detain them - just to sneak in Narendra Modi and sanitize his visit. But beyond the PR optics of the PM’s trip to Bihar, the truth is undeniable: NDA is not just ‘Vote Chor’, but also ‘Zameen Chor’.

This ‘Zameen Chor’ government has unleashed fear and chaos through the Bihar Land Survey 2025 (BLS) just as it created panic through SIR. It forced people to dig out land ownership papers dating back decades in the name of streamlining land records. However, only managed to create utter confusion by mixing up titles, and scrambling ownership. Today, the land revenue department of Bihar is running a full-blown scam under the garb of correcting these mixed-up records. The SCs, STs, and poor landless families who, under successive Congress governments, had been allotted land for housing are particularly being hounded, dispossessed, and pushed to the margins once again. Even the fledgling Jal Jeevan Haryali department has been weaponized to uproot and displace the most vulnerable.

Among the worst victims of this corrupt misrule, however, are the youth of Bihar, who have been categorically denied their rightful opportunities. From the aspirants of the Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission (BPSSC) and the Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) who had gathered in large numbers to protest in Patna, demanding greater transparency, fairness, and accountability in the examination and recruitment processes, to TRE-4 candidates protesting against the government’s betrayal of its promise of one lakh teaching posts, young Biharis have taken to the streets in despair and anger. Instead of listening to their grievances, the NDA regime unleashed brutal lathi-charge. When contractual land surveyors demanded regularization and pay parity, 16 of them were suspended. Those protesting against their suspension were lathi-charged. The same police force that is ever eager to wield the lathi against students, vanishes when it comes to protecting citizens. Broad daylight murders across Bihar lay bare the total collapse of law and order.

This is the lived reality of Bihar today where those who dare to demand transparency, accountability, and opportunity are met not with reform, but with repression. Today the youth of Bihar is forced to flee their homes, scattering across the country in desperate search of better education and employment because a ‘Vote Chor’ government is invariably also ‘Rozgar Chor’. Finally, the Congress Working Committee makes a direct appeal to the people of Bihar to recognize the power of their vote. The Indian National Congress promises to continue the struggle, both inside Parliament and on the streets. This fight is for the protection of our fundamental constitutional rights, for reservations and social justice, and for ensuring fair delivery of welfare benefits to every citizen of Bihar as well as India.

Since Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagraha in India, against indigo planters in Champaran, Bihar has always guided the direction of the nation. It once again stands at a decisive juncture today. The Congress Working Committee calls upon all voters of Bihar to strengthen this democratic fight. What has already become a household slogan in Bihar is poised to echo across the nation tomorrow - “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhor.”