A photocopy shop in Khizarsarai, Gaya, was packed with people getting their new and old voter identity cards photocopied in the lead-up to the Bihar assembly elections. Some of them were doing this in order to complete the paperwork for the programs that the incoming administration was anticipated to introduce.
The results of elections have been significantly influenced by welfare programs, and political parties in Bihar have used them to try and win over votes outside of their caste-based base.
Rajput Vijay Singh, 72, stated that he continues to support Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in part because of social programs. In August, Singh earned an increased old-age pension of ₹1,100. Earlier, he would have received ₹400.Singh, who also received free orthopaedic surgery at a private hospital in Patna as part of the Union government's Ayushman Scheme, stated that he would present his documentation to a representative of Kumar's Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), for programs anticipated to be introduced following the conclusion of the election process on November 14 following two phases of polling on November 6 and 11.
Beside Singh, Roshan Rai, a Bhumihar, declared that he would give his paperwork to a local BJP employee. "In order to enrol in the job scheme that the new NDA government will launch, they have asked me to provide a copy of my voter identity card," Rai stated.

In response to the Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) promise of a government job for every household, the NDA has pledged 10 million employment.
Zafar Ehsan of RJD gathered paperwork at Pathran hamlet, which is located across the Falgu River, some ten kilometres from Khizarsara. "These documents will help you get jobs when we form our government," he said to a gathering of guys.
According to Ehsan, Muslims still firmly support the RJD because of its stance on matters like the legislation pertaining to broad modifications to the regulation and administration of Islamic charity endowments, or waqf.

He continued by saying that after Dularchand Yadav, a supporter of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, was killed on October 30, Muslims and the Yadavs, who have historically been the party's main supporters, have united behind the RJD.
About 120 km east of Pathran, criminal Anant Singh, the JD(U) candidate from Mokama, is said to have assassinated Yadav. Local strongman Yadav was shot and crushed to death while supporting Jan Suraaj candidate Piyush Priyadarshi in Mokama. On November 1, Anant Singh, who denied any role in the murder, was taken into custody.
According to political observers, the murder exacerbated caste division among voters. According to Ehsan, "some Yadavs who voted for NDA will now back RJD."

Vijay Singh stated that because Anant Singh is a member of the elite caste of Bhumihars, they will firmly support the NDA.
Bhumihars, Banias, and Brahmins are among the upper castes that the BJP controls, while Kurmis, Extremely Backward Castes, and Maha Dalits, who are among the poorest, are controlled by the allied JD(U). Other Dalit organisations and Kushwahas are among the main supporters of other NDA allies, including as Upender Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha, Jitin Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), and Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.
With the exception of the Congress, whose power in Bihar has drastically decreased, the opposition RJD-led coalition of the seven parties likewise has a caste-based support base.

The Left parties rely mostly on impoverished Dalit landless farmers, the RJD, the largest party in the alliance, on Muslims and Yadavs (M-Y), and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insan Party on Mallahs.
Sharavan Kumar Manjhi, a 21-year-old farm labourer in Gehlaur, Gaya, expressed his strong support for Jitin Ram Manjhi's HAM. He referred to Dashrath Manjhi, popularly known as the Mountain Man, and said, "If Dashrath Baba told the world about our daily life struggles, Jitin Ram Manjhi gave us a political voice."
Over the course of 22 years, Dashrath Manjhi used a hammer and chisel to cut down on the distance between two blocks in Gaya after his wife passed away owing to a lack of access to healthcare because Gehlaur was so distant.

Vijayraj, a 48-year-old Dalit who works as a field labourer for ₹300 a day, or 8–10 kg of rice, around 15 km distant in Arai Keshopur, stated that "Babu Saheb," a Bhumihar landowner, has selected who they will vote for. Along the Rajgir-Gaya highway, Vijayraj and other members of his community reside on government land. "We will have to abandon the land if the government makes us do so. But we all listen to Babu Saheb because he will help," he remarked.
Despite Kumar's continued popularity, voters in the Kosi-Seemanchal region in the north, the Patna division in central Bihar, and Magadh in southern Bihar revealed that caste still plays a role in determining voting choices.

Even while the RJD has been courting Kushwaha and Keori votes outside of its customary M-Y combination, calls to rise beyond caste do not seem to have many followers outside of some educated voters. Along with lesser Dalit groups and other impoverished groups, the JD(U) also seeks to win over Kushwaha voters. Among some Dalit groups and upper castes, the BJP is still in power.
According to retired professor Abdul Qadir of Magadh University, the 2025 assembly election would once more be about caste rather than class, unlike in places like Delhi. "There is no discernible wave for any combination, and the election is being fought on caste lines, assembly seat after assembly seat. Caste combinations are crucial in determining the winner when this occurs.

Even though Nitish Kumar is still well-liked by the general public and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav is well-liked by Yadav and Muslim youngsters, I envision that occurring in Bihar," he stated.
According to Qadir, the RJD-led coalition won 20 of the 26 assembly seats in Magadh in the 2020 elections as a result of the Muslims and Yadavs' steadfast opposition to the BJP. The labour class votes of the Left parties, particularly the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), were transferred, he said. "With pre-election sops to women and deprived sections, the NDA is attempting to break this caste combination," Qadir stated.