The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scored a chartbusting victory in Bihar on Friday as it swept India’s third-most populous state and decimated the Opposition’s Grand Alliance, reaffirming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and grabbing the momentum for a clutch of crucial state polls next summer.
The five-party alliance beat back two decades of anti-incumbency using a cocktail of cash transfers for women, welfare outreach, smart campaigning and chief minister Nitish Kumar’s longstanding goodwill among marginalised castes to post a historic victory – its best showing since 2010. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted its highest vote share and second-highest seat share in the only north Indian state it has never had a chief minister in. Kumar is set to be sworn in a record 10th time, and for a consecutive fifth term.
Key ally Janata Dal (United) utilised its base among women and Kumar’s legacy of corruption-free governance to record its best performance in 15 years, silencing critics who had sounded doom for the regional stalwart after a diffident showing five years ago. Other partners such as the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha, too, turned in stellar performances, turning an assured victory into a two-thirds landslide – only the second time in history that the NDA has crossed 200 in Bihar.
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“Good governance has won. Development has won. Pro-people spirit has won. Social justice has won. Gratitude to each and every person of Bihar for blessing the NDA with a historic and unparalleled victory,” Modi said on X.
In contrast, the Opposition Grand Alliance suffered a humiliating defeat as the NDA raided its bastions, demolished its vote bases and reduced the seven-party coalition to just 35 seats, its worst showing in 15 years. Senior leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal were trounced on the back of a listless campaign that was roiled by seat squabbles and failed to read the mood on the ground. The results suggested an erosion in the core Muslim-Yadav vote base of the RJD, raising existential threats for the once-dominant regional behemoth. The Congress was reduced to a paltry six seats and no other ally even came close to double digits. The much-vaunted Vikassheel Insaan Party, whose chief Mukesh Sahani was projected as the alliance’s deputy chief ministerial pick, came to nought. The alliance’s paltry tally was a far cry from its insurgent performance five years ago when it came within 12,000 votes of unseating Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}In contrast, the Opposition Grand Alliance suffered a humiliating defeat as the NDA raided its bastions, demolished its vote bases and reduced the seven-party coalition to just 35 seats, its worst showing in 15 years. Senior leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal were trounced on the back of a listless campaign that was roiled by seat squabbles and failed to read the mood on the ground. The results suggested an erosion in the core Muslim-Yadav vote base of the RJD, raising existential threats for the once-dominant regional behemoth. The Congress was reduced to a paltry six seats and no other ally even came close to double digits. The much-vaunted Vikassheel Insaan Party, whose chief Mukesh Sahani was projected as the alliance’s deputy chief ministerial pick, came to nought. The alliance’s paltry tally was a far cry from its insurgent performance five years ago when it came within 12,000 votes of unseating Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}“This result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning. This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy. The Congress Party and the INDIA alliance will deeply review this result and make their efforts to save democracy even more effective,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X.
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The projected third force in these elections, strategist-turned politician Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, contested 238 of the 243 seats in Bihar but won none. Its inability to even play spoiler in close-margin seats suggested that its campaign bluster played better in television studios than on the ground.
The blockbuster victory closes a perfect 2025 for the BJP that trounced the Aam Aadmi Party to win Delhi after nearly three decades earlier this year. It also continues a dream run for the party after its setback in the 2024 general elections – an unexpected come-back-from-behind victory in Haryana, a colossal win in Maharashtra and now a record-busting performance in Bihar.
It strengthens Modi’s hand within the NDA and as the tallest political leader in the country, steadies the central government that is dependent on key allies Telugu Desam Party and JD(U), and generates political capital for tough economic and policy decisions. It also energises the BJP ahead of a tough election cycle in the summer of 2026 when West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry go to the polls.
“The Ganga flows from Bihar to West Bengal. And the river has already paved the way for BJP’s victory in Bengal. I assure the people in Bengal that BJP will now work with you to end the Jungle Raj in Bengal,” Modi told party workers.
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The superlative performance of the JD(U) – which had wilted to just 43 seats five years ago – also burnishes the credentials of Nitish Kumar as one of India’s tallest regional leaders – the man without whom Bihar can’t be won, and who has built a unique appeal cutting across regions, caste, gender and faith. The impressive strike rate of Chirag Paswan marks his entry as a mature political player on the national stage and indicates that his Lok Sabha performance – his party won all five seats it contested – wasn’t a flash in the pan.
“The people of the state have expressed their confidence in our government by giving us a massive majority. For this, I bow to all the esteemed voters of the state, and express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks…the NDA alliance has achieved a massive majority in this election by demonstrating complete unity,” Kumar said on X.
Outside the BJP and JD(U) headquarters in Patna, the beat of the ‘dhol’ echoed alongside workers who broke into choreographed circles of dance, smearing ‘gulal’ on each other and distributing sweets. In Delhi, Modi led a rousing celebration at the BJP office.
The mood was sombre at the RJD and Congress offices where scenes of bravado in the morning soon evaporated as it became clear that the Opposition was set to slump to one of its worst defeats ever. The Grand Alliance’s dismal showing even in pocket boroughs – senior leaders of all parties lost their seats across the board – suggested that the partners spent more time squabbling over seats than crafting a coherent campaign. Knives will be out for Tejashwi Yadav, who struggled to retain his bastion of Raghopur, and his inability to not just expand the caste umbrella of the RJD but also retain its core Muslim votebank – more AIMIM Muslim legislators were elected on Friday than from the RJD, a once-unthinkable scenario for a party with the formidable M-Y formula.
“If you feel that we are big and people would vote for us, first of all you have to be humble. If you think that you are a ‘Raja’ and voters are your people, that era has come to an end,” AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said.
The Congress’s poor showing – it won just six of the 61 seats it fought – will weaken its bargaining position within the INDIA bloc as well as in Parliament. Questions will be asked of Rahul Gandhi, who focussed on the issues of special intensive revision and allegations of vote theft over bread-and-butter issues, and barely campaigned in the state. Expect stiffer ally bargaining in states such as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
As the original playground of Mandal and socialist politics, Bihar has always commanded outsized heft on the national political stage. Along with Delhi, the eastern state was part of an election cycle that was considered tough for the BJP – the party lost both provinces in 2015, lost Delhi and was almost ousted in Bihar in 2020. But its disciplined campaign and ability to turn the elections into a referendum on the 15-year-long rule of the RJD – the so-called Jungle Raj – turned the page.
The run-up to the 2025 elections was particularly acrimonious on the back of the controversial SIR that deleted 6.9 million names from the electoral rolls and added 2.15 million. The Opposition alleged that the SIR was a systematic attempt to delete disenfranchised voters and made it a central theme of its campaign, along with the allegations of vote chori or theft. But as trends streamed in on Friday, it became clear that the 74.2 million-strong electorate of Bihar had kept its focus on everyday material issues – something that will keep the Opposition on its feet as it attempts to stave off a rampaging BJP from its last strongholds next year.