Wiping out Bihar's migration state tag will be biggest satisfaction, says JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha

JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha says the upcoming assembly election is not just about forming the next government for five years but about determining the direction Bihar takes over the next 25 years. According to him, Bihar has now reached the take-off stage- the fundamentals have been laid, and this is the time to push for rapid growth.

He asserts that an NDA government in the next five years will usher in a fresh wave of industrialisation, expand jobs and eventually remove the stigma of Bihar being a migration state.Q: How prepared is the NDA, and what’s the ground atmosphere right now?Sanjay Jha: Every election has its own political dynamics. In 2005, it was an election to remove a government. In 2010, the vote was based on five years of governance and visible improvement in law and order. In 2015, we fought with a different alliance, and in 2020 Bihar went to the polls in the middle of Covid— it was India’s first major election after the pandemic.This time, people in Bihar genuinely feel that a lot of work has happened in the last two decades but for long there was no friendly government at the Centre. After many years, Bihar now has a truly 'double-engine' set-up. And the impact is visible- in the 2024 and 2025 Union Budgets, Bihar received nearly Rs 1.6–1.7 lakh crore in additional support.Take Mithila, where we are talking- known for floods. The DPR for the Western Kosi Canal was first prepared in 1972.

Generations passed, but the project never took off- irrigation for Darbhanga and Madhubani could have transformed this region decades ago. Now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced its completion in the 2025 Budget. The Makhana Board has been cleared. These are examples of what Centre-state synchronisation can deliver.Q: There’s talk that you had a strong role in these budget announcements.Sanjay Jha: This isn’t about individuals- Bihar’s time has come. Nitish Kumar laid the platform. Being a Bihari, we have all faced the humiliation.

Regardless of caste or religion, when someone migrated out and was mocked. We all suffered the same slur 'Bihari'.We belong to a civilisation that gave the world Nalanda when Europe had no universities. And yet, at one point people from this same land were ashamed to say they were from Bihar. Nitish Kumar began reversing that in 2005. Leadership matters— one leader can destroy a state’s image, another can rebuild it.

This election is not for five years, this is about where Bihar stands in 2050.Q: You say this is the first true double-engine phase, but JD(U) was with BJP from 2017–22 too. Why didn’t this synergy build then?Sanjay Jha: Two reasons- we had just reunited and after that Covid halted everything. A lot of projects were pushed even between 2017–19, but it’s true that after 2024 the coordination is at a completely different level now. Some people are very uncomfortable with this.Q: Did JD(U) pay the price for this coordination. For example, giving up seats to accommodate Chirag Paswan’s party?Sanjay Jha: No. Seat-sharing is always collective. In 2015, when we allied with RJD, JD(U) had 118 MLAs and RJD had 22 yet both fought 101-101 seats.

Today we have 45 and BJP has 74 yet again, both fight 101 seats each. I would like to add one more point, if we contest 115 seats and win 45, versus contesting 101 and winning 85, which one gives a better strike rate? This also needs to be considered. Every election has its own dynamics and outcome depends on strike rate, not on the number of seats we are contesting.Q: There was buzz that Nitish was upset with some seats going to LJP(RV).Sanjay Jha: Completely fake. Let me say this on record all those claims are false.

If even 15–20% of something is true, and a story is built around it, that is understandable. But here, it was a completely fake narrative. This too was a learning experience for us. Whoever had sitting seats, got their sitting seats. The only specific ask was for Tarapur, Samrat Choudhary wanted to contest from there. When Nitish ji approved this, in return we got one BJP sitting seat Kahalgaon.

Everything else is fiction.Q: Mahagathbandhan has declared Tejashwi as CM face and Mukesh Sahani as DyCM, and is asking NDA to declare its CM pick. Why isn’t NDA naming Nitish formally?Sanjay Jha: He is the sitting CM. You announce names when the post is vacant. PM Modi said in Samastipur that NDA will fight under Nitish ji’s leadership— that is the endorsement.Q: Opposition claims there could be a Maharashtra-style post-result split.Sanjay Jha: Impossible. Bihar politics is different. Nitish Kumar is the pivot of Bihar. Even in 2020, when JD(U) got only 45 seats, Nitish ji told BJP to choose their CM if they wished, BJP said the mandate was sought in Nitish’s name.Q: You’ve said industrialisation will take off between 2025–30. Why did this take 20 years?Sanjay Jha: Because before 2005, Bihar didn’t even have the basics— sugar mills had shut, kidnapping & extortion were rampant, law & order had collapsed, roads and power were practically non-existent.

Where would investors come from? Electricity reached every home only in 2018. First you build the foundation— then you fly. Now is the right time.People laughed when I said there would be an airport in Darbhanga, they used to send me boarding passes as a joke. But today flights operate. Mark my words, in the next five years, Bihar will see a web of industries. And youngsters won’t have to migrate for Rs 20–25k jobs.Q: Opposition is raising questions about Nitish Kumar’s health.Sanjay Jha: This is the reel age. He is an old-school politician. Everything is sliced frame-by-frame and misinterpreted.

CM is absolutely fine.Q: Mahagathbandhan says that if they come to power, Waqf law will not be enforced in Bihar.Sanjay Jha: When the law was introduced, we also urged the government to set up a JPC. Many of our concerns were accepted. If there are defects in the law, that should be corrected. But whatever else those people say, no one is above the laws of the country.Q: Chirag keeps saying he wants to be CM. Do you have similar aspirations?Sanjay Jha: My greatest satisfaction would be to see the Nitish government return for another five years. I feel fortunate to have been born of this soil and I wish to remain and serve here. I never planned anything for myself, I took on whatever role came my way and did the work at hand. We are determined to end the migration stigma attached to Bihar.