India, July 15 -- The 2020 Bihar assembly election narrative was dominated by the primary opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s promise of a million government jobs once it came to power. Whether it was the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)'s sabotage or RJD's job-promise appeal, the Janata Dal (United) suffered heavily in the elections, posting its worst-ever seat tally since 2000. Chief minister Nitish Kumar's promise of generating 10 million jobs in Bihar over the next five years on Sunday seems like a well-thought-out preemptive strike against the Opposition's criticism of the lack of employment opportunities in the state. Bihar is one of the poorest states in the country and a major exporter of both skilled and unskilled labour. In fact, barring labour migration, consumption standards would have been significantly worse in the state. Any serious strategy to reverse Bihar's economic fortunes must capitalise on the state's demographic dividend in addition to managing it. Bihar has among the highest fertility rates in the country. Should Nitish Kumar's latest promise on jobs - the numbers ought to be taken with more than a pinch of salt, given the fact that Bihar's total workforce itself is about 40 million - be treated as just another electoral rhetoric? No serious politician can ignore the issue of employment. But there is one welcome change in Kumar's promise compared to his primary opponent's. He has rightly clubbed job creation in the private sector along with government jobs to promise better prospects to Bihar's young workers. This is a more honest and pragmatic way of dealing with Bihar's employment challenge. Both the government and the Opposition should include this in their political messaging rather than promising a turnaround on just government jobs....