Patna: With Bihar’s Assembly elections expected in November, the political temperature in the state is steadily rising. As the ruling NDA attempts to invoke the spectre of “jungle raj” under the Lalu-Rabri era to target the opposition, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is turning the spotlight on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s two-decade rule, citing age, unemployment, and crime as pressing concerns. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor, the political strategist-turned-politician, is positioning himself as a new alternative to both camps.
Adding fuel to the political churn, the latest C-Voter survey conducted in the third week of June and aired on Aaj Tak shows a dynamic shift in public sentiment regarding the preferred face for the next Chief Minister of Bihar.
According to the survey, Tejashwi Yadav continues to hold the top spot with 34.6% of respondents naming him as their first choice for Chief Minister. However, this marks a dip of nearly six percentage points from February, when his support stood at 40.6%. While he has maintained his lead across four surveys conducted since February, the downward trend could be a concern for the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan.
Significantly, Prashant Kishor of the Jan Suraaj Party has overtaken Nitish Kumar in the latest rankings. With 18.4% of respondents now favouring Kishor, he has emerged as the second most popular CM face—up from 14.9% in February. Kishor’s rise points to growing traction for his alternative model of governance and outreach, particularly among voters disillusioned with both the NDA and the opposition alliance.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, once the dominant face of governance in Bihar, has slipped to third position in the latest poll. He now garners the support of 17.4% of respondents—a marginal decline from 18.4% in February and a reversal of the brief rebound seen in early June.
Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has also made gains over the past four months. From 3.7% in February, his support rose to 10.6% in early June, though it slightly dipped to 9.9% in the latest round.
Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, seen by some within the NDA as a potential generational face, ranked fifth in the survey. His popularity peaked in April at 12.5% but fell sharply to 6.6% in early June before recovering slightly to 9.6% in the third week.
The C-Voter poll reflects an evolving political landscape in Bihar as the state gears up for its high-stakes Assembly contest. While Tejashwi remains in the lead, the surge in support for Prashant Kishor and Chirag Paswan indicates growing public appetite for alternatives beyond the two established alliances. The NDA, which has declared that the election will be contested under Nitish Kumar’s leadership, faces the challenge of reversing this trend amid internal churn and voter fatigue.
