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NDA dominates, Tejashwi rebounds: 10 big takeaways to know as Bihar awaits a CM
The 2025 Bihar Assembly election delivered plenty of dramatic moments, even as it concluded with the ruling NDA securing a clear majority.
What began as a close contest ended in a decisive mandate. Those who led in early trends eventually slipped, while those who seemed headed for defeat managed surprising turnarounds. The 2025 Bihar Assembly election delivered plenty of dramatic moments, even as it concluded with the ruling NDA securing a clear majority and the Opposition’s hopes collapsing.
The NDA overdelivered on its own promises and surpassed the already high expectations from pollsters, securing a win on 202 of the 243-member Assembly. In stark contrast, the RJD collapsed to just 25 seats — a steep fall from its 75-seat tally in the 2020 Bihar polls.
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Despite a landslide victory for the NDA, a big suspense remains on who would be crowned Chief Minister. While many leaders have claimed or at least expressed hope that Nitish Kumar would retain the post, no official announcement has been made in this regard yet.
As Bihar awaits its next CM, here are top 10 takeaways from the state Assembly elections this time:
Close contest in early trends, quick shift to NDA sweep
Shortly after the counting of votes for the 243-member Assembly began on Friday morning, a surprising picture emerged in very early trends. They showed a close contest between the BJP and the RJD, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JDU leading on barely 8-10 seats. However, the picture soon changed, with allies JDU and the BJP leading on most seats, the RJD's lead narrowing and the Congress struggling on almost every seat it contested.
The BJP ended up winning 89 seats, its closest ally JDU 85 and Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) 19. Meanwhile, the RJD won 25 seats and Congress only six.
Tej Pratap's crushing defeat
Months after being ousted from his family and his father Lalu Yadav’s party, Tej Pratap tried a political comeback with a new party, contesting from Mahua. Though he led in the initial trends, he soon fell behind, with his gap widening as counting progressed.
Tejashwi Yadav's dramatic come back
For Lalu Yadav's other son Tejashwi, the contest was much too dramatic. After initially leading in his home turf of Raghopur, the RJD candidate slipped behind his BJP rival and stayed there for much of the counting. Just when defeat seemed certain, a dramatic turnaround saw him surge ahead by over 5,000 votes, a gap that only widened by the end, securing him a victory in Raghopur.
Maithili Thakur shines in maiden contest
Folk singer Maithili Thakur, who was making her debut from the Alinagar seat, became the youngest MLA in Bihar after securing a victory from the Alinagar Assembly constituency by a margin of 11,730 votes. She defeated RJD's veteran leader Binod Mishra (63), who got only 73,185 votes. She had consistently been leading in the seat ever since counting of votes began.
Khesari Lal loses to not-so Chhoti Kumari
Just like Maithili Thakur, another singer was trying to make this political debut in Bihar, but from a RJD ticket. Shatrughan Yadav, more popularly known as Khesari Lal, had been fielded by the party in Chapra, but lost to BJP's Chhoti Kumari by over 7,000 votes.
No takers for Prashant Kishor's party
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor accurately foresaw the fate of his own Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar. True to his prediction, the party failed to win a single seat, just as he had warned before the polls, saying the JSP would secure “less than 10 or more than 150, nothing in between.”
RJD's seat-count plunges, vote share on top
Despite a sharp decline in its seat count, the RJD retained the highest vote share in Bihar, outpacing even the BJP and JDU — its main rivals and the elections’ biggest winners. The RJD's vote share stood at 23%, surpassing the BJP's 20.08%, JDU's 19.25% and Chirag Paswan's LJP (RV)'s 4.97%.
Chirag Paswan-led LJP's stunning show
As part of the NDA seat-sharing deal, Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV) got to field candidates on 29 seats, and won 19 of them. Among some key seats the party won were Obra, Bakhtiarpur, Dheri, Rajauli and Kasba.
Notably, LJP(RV)'s candidate in Mahua even defeated Lalu Yadav's son Tej Pratap Yadav, who finished in second place, after sitting RJD MLA Mukesh Kumar Raushan.
Bihar deputies make NDA proud
Both deputy chief ministers of Bihar Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha registered thumping victories in their respective constituencies. While Samrat Chaudhary won the Tarapur seat by over 45,000 votes, Vijay Sinha won the Lakhisarai seat by nearly 25,000 votes.
Congress scores 6 out of 61
Part of the Mahagathbandhan grouping, the Congress also delivered a poor show in Bihar, managing to win only six of the 61 seats it fielded candidates on. While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi thanked voters who placed their trust in the Mahagathbandhan, he also claimed that the polls weren't fair from the beginning." The result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not secure victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
The only seats Congress managed to win were Valmiki Nagar, Chanpatia, Forbesganj, Araria, Kishanganj and Manihari.
