The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections were shaping up to be a landslide for the NDA.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appeared poised for a fifth consecutive term, with trends showing the NDA leading in 204 of 243 seats.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav secured a win in Raghopur by over 11,000 votes.
The latest trends revealed that the NDA had surpassed its 2020 tally of 122 seats.
The Mahagathbandhan trailed in 33 seats.
Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party failed to open an account.
Key contenders included Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, JJD’s Tej Pratap, and Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar.
Earlier, Bihar’s 243-member assembly elections, held in two phases, saw a record voter turnout of 67.13 per cent. The first phase on November 4 recorded 65.08 per cent voting. The second phase jumped to 69.20 per cent.
Leaders of both the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan claim the higher turnout has worked in their favour
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Data reveals that in 17 past assembly polls, five instances of increased voter participation preceded a change in government.
What worked for NDA?
The NDA’s stellar showing in Bihar is driven by a powerful new social equation: MEY: mahila (women), EBCs, and youth, a section of the media highlighted.
Women backed the coalition strongly, thanks to welfare schemes like the Rs 10,000 Mahila Rojgar Yojana.
Additionally, the return of leaders like Chirag Paswan (Paswans) and Upendra Kushwaha helped the NDA consolidate EBC support. It was a vital but previously untapped caste base.
Meanwhile, young voters rallied behind promises of stability.
That youth was at the forefront of the Bihar elections could be gauged by the rise of singer and BJP candidate, Maithili Thakur. The 25-year-old not only won the Alinagar seat but also spearheaded the BJP’s breakthrough.
By the 20th round of counting, Thakur was reportedly leading with 70,044 votes, leaving her heavyweight rival Binod Mishra of the RJD trailing at 63,090.
Smiles and wails
The Bihar elections also reaffirmed PM Narendra Modi’s status as the GOAT. It was a given that the NDA banked on his charisma.
His welfare schemes reportedly built a solid voter base that rallied behind the NDA. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, proving that PM Modi’s appeal still drives coalition victories and positions the party strongly for 2029.
“Victory of good governance has been achieved. Victory of development has been achieved. Victory of the spirit of public welfare has been achieved. Victory of social justice has been achieved. My deepest gratitude to the family members of Bihar, who have blessed the NDA with a historic and unprecedented victory in the 2025 assembly elections. This resounding public mandate will empower us to serve the people and work with a new resolve for Bihar,” PM Modi wrote.
“The NDA has ensured all-round development of the state. The people have given us a massive majority after witnessing our track record and our vision to take the state to new heights,” he added.
Unsurprisingly, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar has once again staked his claim as Bihar’s dominant political force. The numbers proved that he successfully defied two decades of anti-incumbency.
Even after nearly 20 years at the helm, JD(U) made significant inroads, leading in over 80 seats when this article went live. The NDA’s combined strength soared past 200 in the 243-member assembly.
As the media noted, he also halted Tejashwi Yadav’s ascent. In the last election, Tejashwi’s RJD rode a wave of momentum, emerging as the largest single party and aiming for a full-term mandate this time.
The surprise packet? Undoubtedly, Chirag Paswan. From one lonely seat in 2020 to 22 this time, he has turned things around.
As political analysts noted, Dalits and young voters rallied behind him. The Paswan vote is solidified. It would be no exaggeration to call him kingmaker in the state.
Where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is concerned, this has been another setback. High-profile campaigns like the vote chori allegations, Special Intensive Revision, and the Voter Adhikar Yatra clearly didn’t sway voters. Local issues clearly mattered more to Bihar’s electorate.
According to reports, five years ago, Congress contested 70 seats with the Mahagathbandhan and won just 19. The party just couldn’t reverse the trend in this elections.
Only expected
Meanwhile, reactions poured in from political voices and party leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the outcome was expected. He likened it to the “Maharashtra pattern” seen in the 2024 Maharashtra polls. “There is no need to be shocked by the results of the Bihar Assembly elections,”
Raut wrote on social media. “Looking at the national agenda being carried out hand-in-hand by the Election Commission and the BJP, a different outcome than this was simply not possible. A complete Maharashtra pattern! Those who were certain to come to power were wiped out within 50!”
As trends suggested an emphatic win for NDA, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “This is the response of the public. We have experience and we know the public. Considering the kind of work that the double-engine government has done in Bihar, the public has voted for us.”
Also Read: Why So Much Rides On Bihar – Particularly For BJP https://www.vibesofindia.com/why-so-much-rides-on-bihar-particularly-for-bjp/
