PM Modi headed to Mithilanchal, why NDA is betting big on the region for Bihar polls

On March 9, addressing the “Shashwat Mithila Mahotsav 2025” event in Ahmedabad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the people of Mithilanchal and Bihar for contributing to the development of Gujarat, saying the region has a history of empowering democracy and philosophy. Now, PM Modi is expected to visit Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district on April 24 to address a public rally.

The message of these developments is clear: the BJP is set to make Mithalanchal the thrust of its campaign for the Bihar Assembly elections slated for October-November this year.

Mithilanchal’s significance

The Mithilanchal region comprises several districts including Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Saharsa, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Katihar, Supaul, Araria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Purnia and Muzaffarpur. It accounts for over 100 of Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats. Most of these seats are currently with the incumbent BJP-led NDA. Maithili, which is spoken in the region, is the language of about one-third of the state’s 13 crore population.

Pointing out that Mithilanchal is a culturally cohesive region with a distinct identity, NDA sources make it clear that the region would be the focus of its campaign efforts.

Though the NDA has done well in the region in the past couple of decades, sources said the renewed thrust now is aimed at consolidating its support base.

The BJP’s Mithilanchal push also comes in the wake of the RJD making efforts to regain its ground in parts of the region. During an RJD workers’ meet in September last year, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, promised the formation of the Mithila Development Authority (MDA) if the Opposition INDIA bloc comes to power in the 2025 polls.

Two months later, during the winter session of the state Legislative Council, RJD leader and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi demanded that Mithilanchal be carved out of Bihar as a separate state.

Speaking to The Indian Express, JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha admitted that the NDA has enjoyed support in the region and that the alliance was looking at consolidating its support base there.

“We have done well in the Mithilanchal belt in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Even in 2020, the region helped us form the government. But the region has also remained flood-prone and has faced severe problems of migration. The focus of the Centre and the state government is to develop the region and not only stop the migration but even engineer reverse-migration by bringing in investments. The flood package announced in the Budget will massively expand irrigation in the region. The Makhana Board will give a much needed boost to agro-processing,” Jha said.

The JD(U) leader has also been at the forefront of negotiations for projects in Mithilanchal. Sources said he lobbied hard for the flood package that Bihar got in the last year’s Union Budget presented right after the Lok Sabha polls.

Jha had earlier demanded that Maithili be recognised as a classical language. Last November, the President released the Constitution in the Maithili language.

Bihar BJP vice-president Santosh Pathak said Mithilanchal had “remained underdeveloped for long”. “We have to correct the historical deprivation that the region has faced. Poverty in the region is higher than other parts of Bihar. It also has maximum number of aspirational districts. So special attention to the region is the need of the hour,” Pathak told The Indian Express.