PATNA: The clock strikes 1am at Patna Junction and the station hums with life. Trains roll in, brakes screech, and the metallic clang of wheels fills the humid night. The announcer’s voice cuts through the noise as weary passengers — many of them women and children — spill onto the platform, dragging heavy luggage under flickering yellow lights.
Outside, the chaos continues. Auto and taxi drivers crowd near the exit gates, their eyes scanning the crowd for customers, their voices rising in a chorus of calls and haggled fares.
Among the late-night arrivals is Manish Kumar, 45, who has just disembarked from the LTT Rajgir Express from Mumbai. Standing near Mahavir Mandir, he strikes a deal with an auto driver to travel home, around 40km across the Ganges. “Bihar has changed. It is no longer the old
Bihar,” he says, smiling as he prepares to leave.
Two decades ago, such a scene would have been unthinkable. Once darkness fell, Patna Junction became a place of fear. Travellers locked themselves in waiting rooms or lay sleepless on station floors rather than risk stepping outside into the so-called “jungle raj”.
For nearly thirty years, Bihar’s politics have been haunted by that phrase. Coined during the 1990-2005 tenure of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, “jungle raj” became shorthand for kidnappings, extortion and the breakdown of law and order. The opposition wielded it relentlessly — a warning of chaos that might return if the RJD regained power.
Now, as Bihar moves towards its 2025 assembly election, “jungle Rraj” is once again echoing in speeches — though with diminished force.
On Oct 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revived the phrase. “People will not forget jungle raj in Bihar for another 100 years, no matter how much the opposition tries to hide their misdeeds. Nitish ji and the NDA have worked hard to bring Bihar out of jungle raj and establish the rule of law.” He made the remarks via audio conference during the BJP’s “Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot: Yuva Samvaad”, a campaign to strengthen its grassroots presence.
The comments coincided with Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s formal declaration as the Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate for 2025.
The two-phase polling — the first in decades — has itself become a talking point. Union home minister Amit Shah recently argued that the shorter schedule, compared with the six phases held in earlier years, was proof that law and order had improved.
But this time, the old narrative may no longer strike fear — especially among the 1.6 crore voters aged between 18 and 29 who have never lived through the years of jungle raj.
“After ruling Bihar for 20 years, the JD(U) and BJP are still contesting the election on the jungle raj narrative. It shows they don’t have much work to speak about,” said Mohammad Jilani, a 28-year-old auto driver who operates from Patna airport. “Yes, law and order have improved, but crimes still happen every day. A few months ago, an auto driver who went to Lalganj from Patna airport around 11 p.m. was mugged by local goons. The obsessive use of the term by the NDA could backfire because the narrative has an expiry period and no longer resonates with the youth,” he added.
Recent NCRB data show that Bihar’s crime picture is mixed — murders have declined even as overall crime has increased. From 3,771 murders in 2003, the figure fell to 3,034 in 2007 and hovered around the same level for a decade before dipping to 2,862 in 2023 — a steady downward trend.
Yet improved law and order cannot conceal deeper cracks. “If you step away from Patna Junction, the cracks will start showing. In the countryside and even in Patna, the public healthcare system is in a dismal state. It is extremely difficult to get treatment in any govt hospital without a recommendation from a politician or an officer. Migration affects the quality of life of millions of families. The responsibility of the state is not limited to providing a safe passage from the railway station to your home,” said Abhishek Prashant, an IT professional from Gurugram who was taking an auto to his native place in Danapur.
Once the BJP-JD(U)’s sharpest political weapon, the “jungle raj” charge now risks dulling with repetition. Many feel the NDA’s reliance on the past has begun to ring hollow as voters demand jobs, better education, stronger infrastructure, and governance that keeps pace with their aspirations.
Sensing this shift, Tejashwi has turned the phrase against his rivals. He calls the current situation “double jungle raj”, accusing the NDA of failing on both governance and law and order. Positioning himself as a reformist voice of social justice, Tejashwi is steering his campaign towards employment, education, and healthcare, portraying the NDA’s attacks as relics of a bygone era.
“The NDA has done no work in the last 20 years and has won previous elections by using the same old Jungle Raj story. During Lalu Yadav’s time, Bihar saw major social and economic reforms. In 2025, the situation of law and order is far worse, murders are taking place in broad daylight, but it is not highlighted in the media. This time the old narrative is not going to help the NDA because people want change,” said RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan.
Young voters appear to agree. “If the NDA keeps talking about Jungle Raj, it will sound like they are looking backward rather than forward — and that will not help them win the youth,” said Anurag Kumar, a first-time voter from Patna city.
Tanvir Aeijaz, associate professor of political science at Delhi University’s Ramjas College, said the “politics of fear” is waning as memories fade and aspirations rise. “Fear narratives rarely sustain electoral dividends indefinitely. A growing section of voters — particularly the youth and women — seek to move beyond the rhetoric of lawlessness and focus on socio-economic advancement for their families and communities. Bihar now needs a substantive debate on the economic dimensions of social justice, and political parties would do well to foreground this during their campaigns,” Aeijaz said.
Still, fear retains its potency in the digital age. Short videos recalling the lawlessness of the 1990s circulate widely on social media, particularly targeting young voters who were not even born when those events occurred.
“I have never lived through Jungle Raj, but I know what happened,” said Ashutosh Shankar, 22, a student preparing for SSC exams in Patna’s Musallahpur Hat, a neighbourhood packed with coaching centres. “I have seen the videos — stories of doctors being kidnapped, car showrooms looted. Boys in my group talk about it,” he added.
This young voter will cast his ballot for the first time on Nov 6, in the opening phase of polling.
Bihar still battles poverty, corruption, and joblessness, but its nights — once marked by silence and fear — now buzz with movement. The streets of Patna — Boring Road, Station Road, Fraser Road, Exhibition Road — pulse with activity. Vehicles glide across gleaming flyovers; autos and taxis negotiate late-night fares; chaiwalas and phone repairmen ply their trade under neon lights.
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