Amid Spate of Crime, ‘Jungle Raj’ Idiom Begins to Boomerang Against NDA In Bihar

Patna: The cold-blooded murder of 64-year-old Gopal Khemka on July 4 – amid a spate of killings and lootings in Patna – has revived the politically loaded phrase “jungle raj”, originally coined by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s critics in 1997 to characterise his tenure in Bihar.

Khemka, a prominent businessman and BJP leader, had already suffered a devastating personal loss in December 2018, when his 31-year-old son Gunjan was shot dead on his way to work in Hajipur, across the Ganga from Patna.

Now, six years later, Gopal himself fell to bullets while returning home from the Bankipore Club – struck down just south of Gandhi Maidan.

In every election contested against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and its allies – except the 2015 assembly polls when he joined hands with the party – chief minister Nitish Kumar has invoked the jungle raj phrase to stir public memory of the so-called Lalu-Rabri era – referring to Lalu Yadav's wife Rabri Devi – that he ended in November 2005. The phrase has become a rhetorical shorthand for the chaos and criminality associated with that period.

Just two days after Khemka’s murder, another chilling killing rocked Patna – the daylight murder of school operator Ajit Kumar.

While mainstream vernacular newspapers appear to downplay such crimes under the current rule of the National Democratic Alliance, social media platforms have been flooded with grim reports of murders, rapes and lootings – particularly alarming in a state heading for assembly elections this October-November. A growing perception is taking root among ordinary citizens, that Bihar, especially its capital, is sliding into a new low of lawlessness and disorder.

The state's leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav has sharply criticised the media for muffling the opposition’s voice and amplifying the ruling party’s narrative. He contrasts this with how the same press once sensationalised even minor incidents during his father's 15-year rule that began in 1990.

The real story behind ‘jungle raj’

While Tejashwi was only around eight years old in 1997, when the term jungle raj was first coined and magnified by the media, his criticism of the press’s partisan treatment across political regimes holds weight.

Ironically, the phrase did not originate as a political slogan. It first surfaced in July 1997, not in a political manifesto but as an offhand oral observation by a judge of the Patna high court – uttered in a very different context.

That year, Rabri Devi had succeeded Lalu Yadav as chief minister after he was jailed in connection with the fodder scam. The state’s administrative machinery was in disarray. Torrential monsoon rains led to severe waterlogging in Patna, prompting civil society groups to file a public interest litigation in the high court.

Frustrated by the apparent dereliction of duty by top bureaucrats – including the chief secretary and the Patna Municipal Corporation commissioner – the presiding judge orally used the term jungle raj, scolding officials for the civic breakdown that had caused immense public suffering.

The newspapers of the time (in the absence of today’s social media) reported the judge’s comment strictly in the context of urban mismanagement – not as a sweeping indictment of the government.

But political opponents seized upon the phrase, repurposing it as a potent slogan against Lalu and Rabri’s rule.

‘Jungle raj’ only popularised as a political metaphor by BJP's Sushil Modi

It would be inaccurate to claim that Bihar enjoyed an ideal law-and-order situation during the Lalu-Rabri era. The state did face its share of serious criminal activity – kidnappings for ransom, murders and other violent crimes were part of the reality.

However, it was Sushil Kumar Modi, then the most vocal face of the BJP in Bihar, who first began framing this reality with the powerful metaphor of jungle raj.

What began as a courtroom remark initially tied to civic neglect was gradually stripped of context. The press, influenced by Modi’s savvy media handling and the rhetorical force of the opposition, amplified the term until it became synonymous with the entire Lalu-Rabri regime. The original judicial context faded, and in its place emerged a politically potent phrase.

Interestingly, while regional BJP and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) leaders frequently invoked ‘jungle raj’ in rallies and media briefings, top national BJP figures of the time – such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi – largely avoided using it in their speeches. It wasn’t until Prime Minister Narendra Modi began consistently deploying the phrase in his campaign addresses that it truly entered the national political lexicon.

Prime Minister Modi's repeated usage appears to have emboldened second-tier leaders – like the BJP’s deputy chief ministers Vijay Kumar Sinha and Samrat Choudhary – who now echo the term in step with their JD(U) counterparts.

The local media, for its part, continues to exhibit an undiminished appetite for the phrase, keeping it alive in Bihar’s political discourse.

Bihar and the Marwaris

Khemka's murder also revives attention to the Marwari-Agrawal community’s historic presence in Bihar.

Khemka belonged to this trading community, which had migrated to Bihar in the latter half of the 18th century in search of stability. Fleeing the political upheaval in western, central and northern India caused by the decline of the Mughal Empire and invasions by Afghan and Persian forces under Nadir Shah, the Marwaris found a relative safe haven in Patna and other towns in Bihar.

The reason? The expanding British presence in eastern India brought a degree of administrative order and commercial security to the region, especially after the East India Company’s victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. As part of the Bengal Presidency, Bihar offered the Marwaris the conditions they needed to flourish in trade and finance.

Over the 19th and 20th centuries, the Marwari community came to play an integral role in Bihar’s economy, civic life and even the freedom movement. Their influence is visible not just in trade policy and infrastructure planning, but also in the state’s literature and folklore. They became embedded in the social and political fabric of Bihar, respected for both their enterprise and civic engagement.

However, in post-independence Bihar, the rise of new social forces and an increasingly criminalised political landscape created a hostile environment for the Marwaris and other business communities. Successive governments – be it under Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Yadav or Nitish Kumar – have failed to articulate a coherent vision that integrates these communities into the state's developmental path.

This persistent lack of foresight has contributed to Bihar’s transformation into what many call a graveyard for industries and enterprise.

Despite their centuries-old contribution to the state, the Marwaris – once beneficiaries of colonial-era stability – now find themselves vulnerable in an atmosphere marred by political shortsightedness and the rise of lawlessness.

Nalin Verma is a journalist, author and media educator.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.