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A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

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Snapshot of the day

September 25, 2025

Sidharth Bhatia

A few weeks ahead of the Bihar elections, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar on Wednesday unveiled a manifesto that takes up the cause of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), which form more than a third of the poll-bound state’s population and considered a vote bank of chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU). At the launch of the Atipichhda Nyay Sankalp Patra, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “We seek a vision that goes beyond party politics. It is a vision for the Atipichhda Samaj. The points which we have mentioned (in the manifesto) are reservation and the formation of a dedicated committee to address concerns of under-inclusion.” The 10-point manifesto promises more quotas, a Reservation Regulatory Authority, a law against atrocities on EBCs and land allocations to the backward classes. At the Congress’s extended working committee meeting in Patna on Wednesday, the party appealed to Bihar’s voters to back its vigilance against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, which it sees as “exclusionary”.

As the Opposition courts Bihar’s largest marginalised community with promises of justice and quotas, Modi counters with a cash-heavy spectacle – using taxpayer funds to shore up support for the BJP in Bihar. On September 26, Rs 7,500 crore as the first instalment of the so-called Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, claiming it will benefit 75 lakh women in the state. The scheme, approved by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet on August 29, promises an initial grant of Rs 10,000 for women to start small businesses,