Biharis Return Home In Thousands To Vote Ahead Of Phase 1 Of State Elections

Patna: Bihar is witnessing an influx of a large number of migrant workers returning home to participate in the electoral process as the second-largest state in India goes to the polls in phase 1 of the Assembly elections tomorrow (November 6).

Trains from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, and Gujarat arriving at Patna Junction were seen packed from ear to ear. Speaking to ETV Bharat, Ram Prasad Paswan, who arrived in Patna from Jaipur, said that he had returned home, braving the crowds on the train, to cast his vote.

Special Trains For Bihar Elections

Northern Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, stated that 32 special trains operated on Monday: eight from New Delhi station, six from Anand Vihar Terminal, eight from Delhi Junction, two each from Shakur Basti and Hazrat Nizamuddin, three from Panipat and one each from Shamli, Ghaziabad, and Rohtak. Six more special trains passed through the Delhi area.

Officials noted these trains were previously used during Diwali and Chhath. Unreserved special trains run when passenger numbers rise, and on Tuesday (November 4), such trains operated at New Delhi and Anand Vihar due to increased traffic.

"The government has tried to influence women by giving them ₹10,000 just before the elections. It is fine, but the real issue in our state is the lack of industries and employment. We want Bihar to be bustling with industries and the education system to improve. One is forced to stay away from one's family just to earn 15,000-20,000 rupees per month. This situation needs to be changed immediately," Paswan said.

Paswan works in a private company in Jaipur and was on his way to Munger.

Anil Mahato, who arrived in Patna by a special train from Anand Vihar Terminal, said he had come from Delhi to cast his vote. "I came to vote with my entire family and will return to Delhi after casting my vote," said Mahato, who was visibly upset since his train was overcrowded and ran late by more than three hours.

Mohammad Khalid, who arrived from Nagpur, said he came to Bihar solely to cast his vote despite his professional commitments. " I am very happy with Nitish Kumar's government and want to see him become the Chief Minister once again," he said.

Migrant Voters Crucial In Bihar

Election data indicate the NDA have benefited whenever the migrant voter participation has increased. This time too, Bihar's major political parties have gone out of their way to woo migrant voters. While the Mahagathbandhan, the opposition INDIA bloc, is promising employment and government jobs to them, the NDA is promoting its policies on industrialisation and investment.

While INDIA claims that once in power, it will take concrete steps to provide employment to every household and stop migration from Bihar, the NDA says that the development work initiated by Nitish Kumar and the BJP government will be enhanced and will lay the foundation for an industrialised Bihar.

According to the Bihar Economic Survey, 2024, over 30 million Biharis migrate to different parts of the country in search of employment. Approximately five million of these are registered voters, as seen in the Election Commission of India (ECI) voter list.

This data is based on the NSSO's 78th round (2020-21) and the ECI list, which was updated in January 2025. According to the survey, the highest number of Biharis working in the country (12 percent) is in the Delhi-NCR region. This is followed by Gujarat at eight percent and Maharashtra at seven percent. Haryana and Punjab are fourth and fifth with five and four percent, respectively.

The Election Commission has also allowed overseas voters to cast their ballot while away from their home state through Form 12D, but over 95 percent of migrants still prefer to vote at home.

The BJP launched a concerted campaign to reach out to the Bihari migrants in more than 70 cities. BJP party leaders undertook several outreach programmes and held meetings with migrants in Delhi, Gujarat, and Maharashtra since July.

The party stated, they had reached out to nearly 20 million migrants through video calls and meetings and through numerous WhatsApp groups called "Bihar First."

In a women's dialogue, PM Narendra Modi urged the women party workers to go out and meet people who had come to Delhi from Bihar to celebrate Chhath. He asked the party workers to urge them to go back home to vote. The Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also directed a door-to-door campaign under the name 'Mission Pravasi Bihari'. This initiative was undertaken two days after Chhath Puja.

With such a focus on migrant voters, the INDIA Bloc parties too, for the first time, made migration an election agenda. The RJD, Congress, and the Left parties announced an industrial expansion and said a strong education system was needed to help millions of Bihar youth to find employment and only then can migration be stopped.

Senior journalist Kaushlendra Priyadarshi said the influx of migrants to Bihar just before the first phase of voting indicates that voters no longer want to be only spectators. "They see themselves as agents of change. These are the same people who work in factories, shops, and at construction sites in other states all year round. They are forced to travel long distances to return home in order to participate in this festival of democracy," he said.

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