From 'Namak Haram' to 'Burqa' & 'Ghuspaithiya' Jibe: The Hate in Bihar Elections

(Trigger Warning: Hate Speech. Exposing hate and communalism is a key focus area in The Quint's reportage. Become a member and help us do more such stories).In the run up to the Bihar elections next month, several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been campaigning on the ground, covering different districts in the state. Even though the party has claimed that 'development of Bihar' is its main plank in the elections, instances of hate speeches and hate content seem to indicate otherwise. On 19 October, BJP's official X account posted an insulting graphic which showed a bus supposedly belonging to the RJD and Congress, carrying Muslims labelled as 'infiltrators.' These 'infiltrators' are visibly shown as 'evil' Muslims who are travelling with their belongings, including a goat, towards Bihar. The caption reads, "Congress and RJD's 'Infiltrator Express' — now heading towards Bihar.'This is also not the first state election where the party has tried to create a bogey around 'infiltrators'. In the Jharkhand Assembly elections last year, the party tried to create fears of "Bangladeshi infiltration" in Santhal Pargana. It had also issued a video advertisement showing a group of Muslims entering and squatting on a Hindu household.The party had to withdraw the advertisement after being ordered by the Election Commission of India.Talking about the 'infiltration bogey,' BJP MP Nishikant Dubey posted on X, "RJD and Congress will not be able to fulfil their plan to win Bihar elections with the help of Bangladeshi voters."Bihar SIR: 40 Removed Due to 'Citizenship' in Seemanchal, Majority HindusThe latest in the line of hate speeches is Minister of State for Home Affairs and MP from Bihar's Ujiarpur, Nityanand Rai.On 22 October in Hayaghat in Darbhanga, Rai stated that he would only want to be born as a Hindu and criticised "those who run slaughter-houses".Those who promote it—those wearing ‘reshmi salwar’ and ‘topi,’ the ‘jaliwale,’ those opening slaughterhouses—no matter which party they belong to, if they go against the message of the Gita, they will incur sin. We proudly say Bharat Mata ki Jai and live to protect our nation, but some people want to bring in foreign ghuspethiye (infiltrators) and take away the livelihood of Bihar’s youth. Listen, Tejashwi—no matter how hard you try, you cannot include Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in the voter list to destroy Bihar’s demography and democracy."Nityanand Rai, BJP MP from BiharAt the Hindustan Bihar Samagam 2025 organised by the Hindustan Times group in Patna recently, Home Minister Amit Shah questioned whether "ghuspaithiye" should determine Bihar's next government.Interestingly, when Shah was asked that his 'infiltrator' remarks would lead to polarisation (dhruvikaran), he responded:I am only saying infiltrator. Where have I said Hindu or Muslim infiltrator? But you tell me, if the infiltrator is Muslim, should they be permitted to stay in India? Then who is doing polarising politics? Congress and co. They are saying that the infiltrator is Muslim, let them stay. That is polarising.Amit Shah, Home MinisterWhile the 'infiltrator' bogey has been used as a dog-whistle against Muslims for a while now, the visible identity markers in the above-mentioned illustration make it quite clear which community they are attacking. The image was posted just a day after Shah's remark. Even during addressing a rally on 17 October in Patna, Shah claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is running the 'Ghuspaithiya Bachao’ campaign."Should these infiltrators remain on Bihar’s voter list? We support the Election Commission’s efforts to remove them not only from Bihar, but the voter list of the entire country. They are stealing employment from our youth, food meant for our poor is going to their homes, they have crippled our education and healthcare systems. Bharat is not a dharmshala—no kind of ghuspaith will remain here," remarked Shah.WebQoof Recap: Of Misinformation Surrounding Bihar Elections, RSS, and MoreIt must be noted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to take note or any action on these communal and hateful remarks despite the Model Code of Conduct is being in place.Meanwhile, addressing a rally in Bihar’s Arwal district, the Union minister of Textiles and Begusarai MP, Giriraj Singh, stated that the BJP did not want votes from “namak haraams" (Muslims) while referring to a purported conversation he had with a Muslim cleric.I asked him (Maulvi) if he had received the Ayushman Card. He said yes, I asked if there was any conflict between Hindu and Muslim. He said no. I asked: 'Did you give us your vote?' He said yes. I asked him to take his God's name and confirm. He said no. I asked, 'Did Narendra Modi abuse you?' He said no. I asked, 'Did we abuse you?' He said no. I said, so what was my mistake? A person who does not consider someone's favour a favour, what do we call that traitor: Namak haram. I said to him: I do not need the vote of the ungrateful 'namak harams.'BJP MP Giriraj Singh in PatnaThe Opposition criticised his remarks.RJD leader Mritunjay Tiwari accused the Union Minister of deliberately stoking communal divisions. Tiwari stated, "Whenever elections take place in any state, BJP leaders always play the Hindu-Muslim card. They cannot think beyond that. He is the same leader who earlier said that those who don’t vote for BJP will be sent to Pakistan. BJP has been ruling the Centre for 11 years; have they sent anyone to Pakistan?”This is not the first time that Singh has made such a statement. Last year, Singh supported a remark by JD(U)'s Sitamarhi MP Devesh Chandra Thakur. Thakur said that he would not do any work for Yadavs and Muslims since they "did not vote him" in the Lok Sabha polls.Singh backed his statement and said that Muslims don’t vote for him either. He also said that the collective decision by Muslims not to vote for a particular party is aimed at "weakening Sanatan."Bihar Elections: Is Tejashwi's 'Govt Job for Every Household' Promise Feasible?The ECI on 6 October stated at a press conference that Aanganwadi workers will be present at all polling booths in Bihar during the Assembly polls to help verify the identity of burqa-clad voters.Two days before the announcement, Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal had urged the EC to ensure that faces of women turning up at booths in burqas tallied with voter cards.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now taken it upon himself to exploit this in his speeches. In Bihar's Danapur, UP CM stated that "INDIA bloc has started a new campaign–development vs burqa.""When Bihar and its youth are talking about development, Congress and RJD are trying to expand their reach through ‘burqa’. Should they be allowed to conduct fake polling? Should ‘foreign infiltrators' be given a free hand to rob the poor, Dalits, and citizens of Bihar? Anywhere in the world, one must show one's identity and face, but they want to let anyone vote without revealing their faces," said Adityanath.Then in Saharsa, the UP CM repeated the same narrative. He added, "Farzi vote dilwayenge lekin chehra nahi dikhayenge. They (Muslims) show their faces while on pilgrimage to foreign countries, but while casting votes in Bihar, they want to rob the rights of the poor by concealing their faces and casting fake votes. ”Another chief minister who entered the arena to make communal speeches was Uttarakhand's Pushkar Singh Dhami.In Nawada's Warisaliganj, Dhami praised BJP's achievements such as abrogation of Article 370, abolition of Triple Talaq, the Citizenship Amendment and Waqf amendments. He elaborated on the work done by his government in his state to fight against "love jihad," "land jihad" and "thook jihad" and called RJD and Congress' work as appeasement driven by anti-national agenda."This ‘anti-national gang’ insults people of all parts of the country—Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand—protects ghuspaithiyas (infiltrators), and lets them settle in Bihar—taking away the rights of people of Bihar and perpetrating injustice, because in appeasement politics, they only see their vote-bank," noted Dhami.But he went further to tie it to the 'infiltrator' narrative."Will you stand with the BJP-NDA alliance that regards the nation as supreme, or will you stand with those “ghuspaithiyas?” Will you stand with those who passed a Uniform Civil Code in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand under PM Modi’s leadership, or will you stand with those who, in the name of Shariat, openly give license to exploit women?” asked Dhami.In the past few years, there has been an alarming rise in hate speeches during elections. According to a 2024 report by the India Hate Lab (IHL), hate speeches—particularly against Muslims and Christians—increased during the general elections. IHL recorded 373 hate speeches, out of which 354 were explicitly anti-Muslim and 38 speeches invoked the 'Bangladeshi infiltrator' bogey.Another BJP MP Ashok Kumar Yadav, during a nomination rally in Darbhanga, took a jibe at Muslims, asking them to refuse ration or facilities provided by the BJP:“My Muslim brothers, if you hate Modi, then say tauba-tauba: I will not eat free grain, I will not take the cylinder, I will not walk on the roads. If you swim across the river instead of using the bridges built by us, then we will believe that you are against Modi. You take all the benefits, yet come out on the streets to abuse Modi, the BJP, and Nitish Kumar.”Voting is set to take place in Bihar in two phases: 6 and 11 November. But the question remains: Will ECI take action against those leaders spewing hate for electoral gains or turn a blind eye again?Bihar Elections 2025: The Fiscal Faultlines Beneath Welfare Politics

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'Namak Haram', 'Burqa' & 'Ghuspaithiya': The Hate Factor in Bihar Elections

"I do not need the vote of the ungrateful namak harams," said BJP MP Giriraj Singh in Bihar, recently.

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Topics: Amit Shah Bihar Giriraj Singh