Bihar Election 2025: Rahul Gandhi Joins Congress Job Migration Protest Yatra

Bihar Election 2025: Rahul Gandhi Joins Congress Job Migration Protest Yatra

By Rakesh Raman

As the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly election draws closer, the Indian National Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, is significantly increasing its focus on the state, evident through a series of political marches and engagements. 

The upcoming election for all 243 constituencies is scheduled for October or November 2025. In a bid to invigorate the party’s prospects and connect with voters, particularly the youth, Rahul Gandhi has joined the ongoing ‘Palayan Roko, Naukri Do‘ (Stop Migration, Give Jobs) padyatra (foot march) in Bihar.

This latest yatra commenced last month in East Champaran district and has seen Congress MP Rahul Gandhi marching alongside prominent party figures such as Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai, Kumar’s home district, on Monday, April 7, 2025. 

This marks Rahul Gandhi’s third visit to the election-bound state within the last three months, signalling the party’s heightened efforts to make a significant impact in the upcoming polls. Earlier in January 2025, Gandhi had urged Congress workers to strive for an “ideological defeat” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state assembly elections.

The ‘Palayan Roko, Naukri Do‘ padyatra is viewed by political observers as an attempt by the Congress to assert its presence and influence ahead of the assembly elections later this year. Raebareli MP Rahul Gandhi, in a video message shared on X (formerly Twitter) on April 6, encouraged the youth of Bihar to participate in the march in Begusarai, notably requesting them to wear “white T-shirts”. 

[ Video: बिहार चुनाव 2025: राहुल गांधी की बिहार यात्रा में सफेद टी-शर्ट पहनकर आएं। ]

He stated, “Our aim is to draw the attention of the world to the plight of Bihar’s youth, who find government jobs getting scarce day by day and privatisation bringing no benefits. Let us bring the government in the state under pressure and change it”. Gandhi further emphasised that “The Stop Migration, Give Jobs Yatra will give the world a glimpse of your struggle, suffering and also the sentiments of Bihar’s youth”.

The padyatra’s main focus is to raise concerns among voters regarding critical issues such as migration, unemployment, and the economic downturn in the state. This initiative follows an earlier political march, a yatra undertaken by the Congress in Bihar from March 16, aiming to raise awareness about what it perceives as misgovernance under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. This yatra commenced from Mahatma Gandhi’s Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran and is scheduled to culminate in Patna on April 14.

While the Congress is actively engaging in these political campaigns, its recent electoral track record has been less than favourable. According to journalist and social activist Rakesh Raman, writing in the provided excerpts, “While Rahul Gandhi is a weak leader, Congress lost a number of elections In the past few months, including in states like Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi“. Raman also notes that Congress has a history of embarking on what he terms “futile yatras” before various elections across India. 

He cites Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Nyay Yatra, a 6,200-kilometre march from Manipur to Mumbai during January to March 2024, and the earlier Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, which took place from September 2022 to January 2023, suggesting that these large-scale efforts “were so fragile that they neither united India, nor did they help Congress win elections“.

Raman presents a starkly critical perspective on the dynamics of Indian elections, asserting that “the victory in Indian elections is a factor of electronic voting machine (EVM) manipulation, fudged electoral rolls, bribes to voters, and other criminal activities“. 

He further contends that “Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi has specialized in stealing elections, Congress cannot defeat BJP and its partner parties in any election where BJP wants to win“.

Looking ahead to the Bihar election, Raman anticipates a “perfunctory contest” between the ruling NDA, led by CM Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and the BJP, and the opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties. 

He predicts that “While BJP is poised to win, there will be a stage-managed show before the election like it happened in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi“. This, according to Raman, will involve “unscrupulous opinion poll agencies” predicting a BJP victory, a “fake campaign around Modi’s guarantees,” and bribed exit poll agencies forecasting a BJP win on voting day. 

Following a potential defeat, Raman believes that “Rahul Gandhi and other good-for-nothing Congress politicians will casually blame EVMs, election commission, electoral rolls, and whatnot without raising their voice forcefully on the streets,” while “BJP and its partners will keep ruling the state“. He concludes that “This fateful pattern of BJP’s victory and Congress’s defeat is being observed in almost every election in India“.

Despite these pessimistic views, the Congress party remains active on the ground. Following his participation in the ‘Palayan Roko, Naukri Do‘ padyatra in Begusarai, Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to return to Patna to address the ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan‘ (Save the Constitution Symposium). He was also expected to visit Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Congress office in Patna, to address party workers. 

Reflecting the party’s optimism, Congress leader Dr Shakeel Ahmad Khan stated that “People are happy, and he is coming to Bihar frequently to fulfil his commitment of social unity and social justice. He is appealing to the people to take part in this campaign to remove this blind and deaf government“.

The contrasting narratives surrounding Rahul Gandhi’s ability to influence the Bihar election highlight the complex political landscape of the state. While the Congress is making visible efforts to connect with the electorate through these yatras, the shadow of past electoral defeats and critical perspectives on the fairness of the electoral process loom large. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether these campaigns can translate into tangible electoral gains for the Congress in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.