India, Nov. 14 -- Bihar has long functioned as a paradox, a transparent enigma. Its ideas market never loses its sheen, and its caste codes refuse to retire. This duality is not incidental. It is woven into Bihar's political evolution. The state's public sphere has historically allowed sharp ideological contestation, yet its political structures return, almost faithfully, to familiar anchors of caste arithmetic, welfarist governance, and a deep suspicion of unregulated economic mobility. The 2025 election recommits Bihar to this older vocabulary, even as its demographic realities press urgently for a new one.

This paradox has deep historical roots. The Congress governed Bihar almost continuously until the 1970s, but its governance left s...