• Bihar votes in two phases, on November 6 and 11.
• Results due November 14, say election authorities.
• Money worries dominate for Bihar’s 130 million residents.

PATNA: Voting has started in Bihar, India’s poorest state, and for many of its 130 million people, one issue overshadows all others: money.

That’s what Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to capitalise on, wooing voters with economic incentives in a bid to win full control.

A win here, strategists say, could “energise” the BJP’s prospects in other key states heading into next year’s elections.

Hindu-majority Bihar, the country’s third most populous state — roughly equal to Mexico — is a bellwether battleground.

It remains the only state in the Hindi-speaking north where Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has never ruled alone.

For housewife Rajkumari Devi, feeding her three children depends on the daily wage her husband earns as a labourer in the Muzaffarpur district.

He takes home about 400 to 500 Indian rupees (around $5) on the days he does find work.

“There is no stability,” said the 28-year-old, outside her modest one-room home overlooking agricultural land.

“There have been times when he has not had work for days — so we stretch the little money we have,” she added. “There is unemployment everywhere.”

Bihar ranks worst in India on poverty indicators, according to the government’s NITI Aayog policy think tank, with a GDP per capita of INR52,379, just ahead of a country like the Central African Republic.

Cash promises

But it has made progress over the past decade.

The share of citizens living in “multidimensional poverty” — deprived in health, education and living standards — fell from just over a half in 2016, to about a third in 2021, according to the latest data released last year.

In September, Modi announced investment projects worth $8 billion, including rail and road upgrades, new agricultural schemes and an airport terminal.

He also unveiled an $844 million initiative to support women entrepreneurs, offering 7.5 million women cash transfers of INR10,000 each.

The BJP, allied with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), faces a stiff challenge from the opposition.

At a rally in the state capital Patna on Sunday, Modi urged voters to “bless the NDA”.

A BJP victory in Bihar could, analysts say, boost its momentum in opposition-held states, such as neighbouring West Bengal, as well as Tamil Nadu in the south.

“This is the election which will decide whether the BJP can form a government on its own,” said Pushpendra, a political analyst who uses only one name.

A BJP win could “energise” the party elsewhere, he said.

The election will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11. Results are due on November 14.

‘Jobless people’

The BJP’s main rival is an opposition alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress party.

“Time to build new Bihar,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said last week, promising one government job per family, after touching down in a helicopter in Darbhanga district, where narrow lanes wind between mud and thatch-roof homes.

Former BJP poll strategist Prashant Kishor has launched a party, Jan Suraaj, or “People’s Good Governance”.

Supporters draped him in marigold garlands as he paraded through the crowd.

“You only run or walk after a fall,” said supporter Mudassir, a 25-year-old student who goes by one name. “It’s alright if he doesn’t win big this time.”

Pushpendra said that the result will hinge on which party voters believe will help their future, noting that to be “Bihari” has become a byword for “jobless people”.

Vikash Kumar, 30, left Bihar a decade ago seeking work in other states, but still struggles to earn a steady income.

“If companies could be established here, people here wouldn’t die of hunger,” the labourer said.

“They will earn money, sit at home, live comfortably, and eat their meals.”

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked around 80,000 non-immigrant visas since its inauguration on January 20 for offenses ranging from driving under the influence to assault and theft, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday.

The extent of the revocations, first reported by Washington Examiner, reflects a broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump came into office, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants including some who held valid visas.

The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening.

Around 16,000 of the visa revocations were tied to cases of driving under the influence, while about 12,000 were for assault and another 8,000 for theft.

“These three crimes accounted for almost half of revocations this year,” said the senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In August, a State Department spokesperson said Washington had revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and breaking the law, including a small number for “support for terrorism.”

The department also said last month that it had revoked the visas of at least six people over social media comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people, including students, because of involvement in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities.

Directives from the State Department this year have ordered US diplomats abroad to be vigilant against any applicants whom Washington may see as hostile to the United States and with a history of political activism.

Trump administration officials have said that student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to US foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas.

US President Donald Trump has said that eight planes were downed in the May 2025 clash between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.

In an interview with a private TV channel, President Trump said some newspapers had reported that seven or eight planes were shot down during the Pakistan-India war.

He added that one newspaper claimed seven aircraft were downed and another damaged.

“I won’t name any newspaper here — most of them publish false news,” Trump said, adding that, in fact, eight planes were shot down in the recent Pakistan-India war.

Last  month, the US president had said that “seven brand-new and beautiful planes were shot down” during the Pakistan-India war, highlighing the loss of new Delhi in the clashes.      

Trump had also boasted of his role in brokering the ceasefire, claiming he single-handedly averted a potential nuclear confrontation.

While addressing a dinner with business leaders in Japan, Trump had said many of the wars he halted were due to the tariffs he imposed on multiple countries, claiming he did “a great service to the world”.

“If you look at India and Pakistan, they were going at it,” he had said.

“I said to [Indian] Prime Minister Modi and I said to the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif], very nice man, a very good man and the Field Marshal [Asim Munir] over in Pakistan … I said, ‘look we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to be fighting’,” Trump had said.

“We said ‘no, we’re not doing any deals if you’re going to fight’ and within 24 hours that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually,” he had added. “I think trade is responsible for 70 per cent of the fact that we didn’t have wars.”

Speaking during a Diwali celebration at White House on October 22, Trump said he had told Indian PM Modi that there should be no war with Pakistan, stressing that he had helped avert several conflicts through diplomacy and trade pressure.

The US president had emphasised the outcome, saying, “And we have no war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good thing.” He concluded by praising Modi personally: “He’s a great person, and he’s become a great friend of mine over the years.”

The US president had claimed he had prevented eight wars so far through what he described as “deals and trade,” including one between Pakistan and India.

Trump has previously taken credit on several occasions for helping defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence and remain at odds over the disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In May, Pakistan and Indian engaged in a military showdown, the worst between the old foes in decades, which was sparked by a terrorist attack on tourists in IIOJK’s Pahalgam area, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan.

Islamabad denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, which killed 26 men and was the worst assault on civilians in India since the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

After the incident, India killed several innocent civilians in unprovoked attacks on Pakistan for three days before the Pakistan Armed Forces retaliated in defence with the successful Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.

Pakistan downed seven IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.