Key to Bihar’s Assembly is in Migrants’ Hands this Election

Bihar demographics are in favour of those political formations that are courting the vote of the youths. And it is their and their families' votes that will decide which way the scales will tilt as 65 percent of the families in the state have one of their members working outside the state.

Bihar's demographic advantage is much better than the country’s with the nation's to last till 2040, while the state’s till 2050. Remittances by migrants' make up 50 percent of their families’ annual income and 28 percent of the village economy. Remittances sent by the migrants to their families averaged about 50,000 per year.

But their earnings are at the cost of separation from their families, staying in highly unhygienic conditions and the daily insults they face at their work places. Prashant Kishor of Jan Suraaj is tapping this pool of frustrations and angers to be one up in this election.

The NDA has downplayed it while the Mahagathbandan recognised it late and gave it only lip service. Their promise to give one government job to each jobless family is unimplementable in view of the large numbers of educated youths flooding the unemployed pool. In 2025, about 13 lakh students passed out of class XII.

Economists say that the educated migrants from the state are to face changes in the coming years as many states are reserving government jobs for permanent residents. The only solution to all these problems is creating job opportunities in the state itself by promoting manufacturing and service sectors. Freebies have only a palliative effect. Those who think out of the box will lead Bihar in the long run.