Chirag paswan vs prashant kishor: The politics of Bihar has always been on a boil. Lalu vs Nitish, Nitish vs Modi, Modi vs Mamta – we have seen all these. But now a new war has started. On one hand, Chirag Paswan, who has emotional appeal in politics, is a young face and the hold on the Dalit vote bank is getting stronger. On the other hand, Prashant Kishore has landed in the field, who is struggling with the ground to prove himself a ‘leader of the public’. The 2025 Bihar assembly election will not be a battle for any one party or alliance, but it is going to be a contest of ‘Chirag vs Prashant’. Till a few years ago, hardly anyone would have thought that a heritage like Ram Vilas Paswan, in front of the name of Chirag Paswan, will directly stand face to face with a strategist like Prashant Kishore. But no one knows when both time and land takes turn in politics. From the streets of Bihar to the capital Patna, now the same question is echoing at every tea shop – will the key of power of Bihar be now with Nitish or Lalu or will a new player be killed?
Chirag’s ‘choice lamp’ card and close to Modi
Chirag Paswan made a lot of headlines by giving the slogan of ‘Bihar First, Bihari First’ in the 2020 assembly elections. However, his party Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) was then divided and found himself isolated. But the 2024 Lok Sabha elections again made Chirag ‘star’ in Bihar politics. Chirag has realized his strength by winning five out of five seats. The biggest benefit he got from Narendra Modi. The slogan of ‘choice Chirag, Guarantee Modi’ went on in Bihar. Now Chirag is eyeing the 2025 assembly elections, and he is openly presenting himself as a contender for the post of Chief Minister. His eyes are especially on the Dalit vote bank, which traditionally remained with Lalu, then went towards Nitish, and now Chirag is struggling to bring him into his court. The greatest strength of Chirag is his youthful and aggressive style. Hindi media has started calling him ‘Junior Modi of Bihar’. But can Bihar be conquered by only face and slogans?
Prashant Kishore’s ground mission and pk factor
On the other hand, Prashant Kishore is in the field, who is identified not by a party but a strategist and a campaign leader. PK has created a campaign called ‘Jan Suraj’ in the last three years, which is going from village to village to contact people. PK has made a strategy from Congress to Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi, but in Bihar he himself has come down with the dream of Chief Minister’s post. They do not have an organization, there is no big face, there is no ethnic vote bank. But they have the passion to work hard on the ground and the dream of changing the system. The biggest challenge for Prashant Kishore is how effective issues like development and system reform in Bihar’s racist politics? Youth are definitely connecting with them in the villages, but the politics of power remains on the mathematics of caste.
Chirag vs. Prashant: Who is heavy on whom?
In Bihar’s politics, ethnic equations decide the real game. Chirag is a Dalit vote bank with Paswan, BJP has indirect support and also a legacy called ‘Paswan’. On the other hand, Prashant Kishore is determined to challenge Nitish Kumar. PK has been constantly saying that “The development model that is going on in Bihar has failed completely.” But the interesting thing is that while Chirag’s game ‘BJP Plan B’ resembles, Prashant Kishore is completely standing on the anti-BJP and anti-JDU line. If BJP optimize Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan can become a face for him in Bihar. At the same time, PK’s role can be important in distributing the votes of the opposition. The biggest challenge is to make the equation of Yadav, Kurmi, Dalit, Savarna and Muslims in the ethnic equations of Bihar. Chirag can get a mixture of upper caste and Dalit, but which way the Muslim vote will go, the question remains. The advantage of Prashant Kishore can be that he talks about ‘development’ beyond caste, which can affect non-political youth.
Will there be a big upset in Bihar?
The Bihar assembly election of 2025 is not just about the change of power but the election of political polarization is going to be formed. Nitish Kumar’s popularity declines, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s age and health, weakness of Congress – a new battle is emerging among them all. On the one hand, Chirag Paswan is moving forward with the help of heritage, on the other hand Prashant Kishore came with the slogan of ‘changing the system’. Will Chirag be able to reach the Chief Minister’s chair or will Prashant Kishore spoil all the equations of politics? At the moment, Bihar’s political air is echoing – “In 2025, the real match Chirag vs PK!
