NDA Wins Bihar Election, BJP Leads As Nitish Kumar Secures Tenth Term

• NDA secures a strong majority in Bihar, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party.

• Nitish Kumar enters his tenth term as JD(U) posts major gains alongside the BJP.

• RJD and Congress suffer heavy losses as NDA benefits from welfare schemes and strong women voter turnout.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has retained power in Bihar with a substantial mandate, reinforcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s influence and extending Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s long tenure, while the Mahagathbandhan suffered heavy losses.

PTI reported that the BJP and JD(U), the NDA’s two largest constituents, each contested 101 seats and achieved close to an 85 per cent strike rate. The alliance crossed the 200-seat mark, well above the majority requirement of 122 in the 243-member Assembly. The BJP finished as the single largest party with 89 seats, up from 74 in 2020, while the JD(U) rose from 43 to 85. The RJD fell sharply to 25 from 75, and the Congress won six of the 61 seats it contested, down from 19.

Addressing party workers in Delhi, Modi said the electorate had shown “unshakable confidence” and remarked that voters had “taken the state by storm (garda uda diya)”. He said the result had replaced the earlier “MY formula” associated with the RJD with a new “positive MY — Mahila and Youth” approach. Kumar described the outcome as a “landslide” for the NDA and thanked voters on X, also expressing gratitude to Modi for consistent support.

According to PTI, the NDA’s performance drew significantly from state and central welfare schemes, including monetary assistance for women, frequent reminders of the RJD’s “jungle raj”, and emphasis on the benefits of a double-engine government. A wider caste alliance, targeted schemes for Economically Backward Class households, strong backing from women — many of whom supported the liquor ban — and a large turnout of younger voters helped shape the outcome. Women voters registered one of the most striking participation levels of the election.

The alliance also performed competitively in several Muslim-dominated constituencies, signalling a possible shift in voting patterns. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which contested all but three seats and was viewed as an ‘X factor’, failed to mobilise support despite highlighting unemployment, migration and limited industrial opportunities.

Celebrations broke out at the BJP and JD(U) offices in Patna, with workers playing drums, setting off firecrackers and chanting slogans. Outside the chief minister’s residence, JD(U) workers displayed posters reading “Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai”, reflecting Kumar’s assertion that he was “neither tired nor in a mood to retire”. Kumar, Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister and an electrical engineering graduate, entered the Assembly again through the legislative council rather than contesting a seat. PTI reported that he had expanded welfare measures ahead of the polls, including increases in social security pensions, stipends for Jeevika, Aasha and Aanganwadi workers, and payouts under the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’, which transferred Rs 10,000 each to more than one crore women.

The BJP’s showing strengthens its national standing after last year’s Lok Sabha polls required reliance on allies, and follows recent gains in Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana. Modi’s and senior ministers’ strong endorsement of Kumar during the campaign also bolstered the JD(U).

Among smaller NDA partners, Chirag Paswan’s LJP(RV) won 19 of the 28 seats it contested. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha secured five of six seats, while Upendra Kushwah’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four of six. The BJP depended on these allies to consolidate Dalit support.

The Mahagathbandhan — comprising the RJD, Congress and three Left parties — endured a heavy setback despite surveys suggesting Tejashwi Yadav as the preferred chief ministerial candidate. Modi claimed Yadav was nominated after the RJD put a “katta” to the heads of its partners. Yadav trailed initially in Raghopur before defeating the BJP’s Satish Kumar by 14,532 votes. The traditional Muslim–Yadav vote base of the RJD weakened considerably, and the Congress, often viewed as a “weak link” in the INDIA bloc, struggled despite Rahul Gandhi’s “Vote Chori” campaign narrative.

AIMIM, led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and frequently accused of being a “B-team” of the BJP, won five of the 32 seats it contested. The Indian Inclusive Party secured one seat in Saharsa, where Indrajeet Prasad Gupta defeated the BJP’s Alok Ranjan.

PTI reported that the election, held in two phases amid allegations of irregularities in electoral-roll revisions, is being read by many as a precursor to the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal and Assam over the next six months.

(With inputs from PTI)