The Last Battle for the Class of 1974

/18 min read
They are the last of the socialist war horses, moulded by the JP movement and Mandal agitation. Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar are all set for a final face-off in battleground Bihar
The Last Battle for the Class of 1974
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Independence Day, Patna, August 15, 2025 (left); RJD chief Lalu Prasad on the party’s foundation day, Patna, July 5, 2025 (Photo: Getty Images) 

 NO NARRATIVE OF THE POLITICS of modern Bihar can stand the socio-political test without naming the JP Movement and its key torchbearers in the state, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. For 35 years, these two Mandal warriors have dominated the political discourse of the state. As Bihar, the third most populous and politically crucial state in the country after Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Maha­rashtra, stands at the threshold of a new era, witnessing these two power centres of the Mandal movement in their denouement, it is making space for new concerns about development, infrastructure, industry, invest­ments, health and education, good governance, unem­ployment, and outmigration for work.