Migration debate: On the first phase of 2025 Bihar Assembly election

M igration has been a central theme in the Bihar Assembly election campaign, the first phase of which ended on Tuesday (November 4, 2025). Parties have sought to frame the migration debate in different ways, but it is important for the sake of the State and the country to get this correct. The Opposition, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has blamed the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the heavy out-migration from the State to other parts of the country for opportunities; the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) [BJP-JD(U)] axis, which has been in power for 20 years, is partly in denial of the issue while disingenuously raising the bogey of illegal immigrants in the State. The scaremongering around illegal migrants in the State by the ruling combine would have been