On the festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav turned Dussehra into a pointed political audit — naming unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, migration, crime, corruption, bureaucratic excess, floods, drought, and misgovernance as Bihar's ten-headed demon on Tuesday, 20 October 2026.

Bihar's ten-headed demon: what Tejashwi actually charged

Wishing citizens 'Vijayadashami aur Dussehra ki hardik shubhkamnayein' ('heartfelt greetings on Vijayadashami and Dussehra'), Yadav drew a deliberate parallel between the ten-headed demon-king Ravana of mythology and what he called the ten chronic afflictions hollowing out Bihar from within. The list — unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, out-migration, crime, corruption, bureaucracy, floods, drought, and misgovernance — is a condensed indictment of the state's development record under the ruling coalition.

He went further. Citing government records, Yadav claimed that roughly 4 crore Bihari residents migrate every year in search of work — a figure that, if accurate, would rank among the largest internal-migration flows in the world. He also alleged that Bihar's women record the highest anaemia rates in the country and that Bihar children suffer the highest rates of stunting, linking both directly to inadequate nutrition and a dysfunctional public health system.

Per capita income and the infrastructure deficit

Yadav described Bihar as 'the most backward state in the country in per capita income,' arguing that a large section of the population remains cut off from basic services — schools, roads, and hospitals. National Family Health Survey data across multiple rounds has consistently placed Bihar near the bottom of national rankings on maternal anaemia and child stunting, lending weight to the broad thrust of his nutrition and health claims, even if the precise figures he cited are drawn from government records NationPress has not independently verified.

The law-and-order charge was the sharpest edge of the message. Without naming specific incidents, Yadav said recent attacks on women on public roads had 'exposed the funeral of law and order before the entire country' — a formulation that signals he intends to press the issue in the coming assembly session.

The counter-vision: 'padhai, dawaai, kamaai'

Yadav's Dussehra message was not only an attack; it carried a programmatic counter-pledge. He called on all Bihari citizens to resolve this festival to 'burn the Ravana of unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, migration, crime, corruption, bureaucracy, floods, drought and misgovernance' and to lay the foundation of a system built around six pillars: padhai, dawaai, kamaai, sinchaai, sunvaai aur kaarvaai — education, healthcare, livelihoods, irrigation, grievance redressal, and accountability. The six-point formulation has the cadence of a campaign manifesto, not just a festival greeting.

'Har haath ko kaam mile aur har ghar phoole-phale' — 'let every hand find work and every home flourish' — was his closing aspiration, addressed to what he called the 'godlike people of Bihar.'

Festival messaging as political strategy in Bihar

This is a well-worn but effective play in Bihar's political calendar. Opposition leaders across India routinely use festival addresses to reframe festive goodwill into governance accountability, but in Bihar — where development gaps are both stark and documented — the tactic carries unusual traction. Yadav, who served as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar from 2022 to 2024 during the RJD-JD(U) grand alliance, is sharpening his opposition credentials ahead of the next electoral cycle. Every metric he names today is a potential campaign benchmark tomorrow.

Whether the Bihar government responds with counter-data on migration, nutrition, or public safety will be worth watching when the winter session of the state assembly convenes.