NDA wins landslide victory in Bihar 

November 16, 2025

Abhishek Vij

On Friday, the Bihar vote count quickly confirmed a decisive outcome: another victory for the Nitish government and the NDA. Although expectations pointed to a close contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the results were overwhelmingly one-sided. Predictions that Tejashwi Yadav and his alliance might prompt a change, as claimed by both him and Rahul Gandhi, did not materialize. The clear NDA victory left no room for post-election turmoil or defections.
The BJP outpaced the JDU in seat tally, with the NDA crossing 200 seats for only the second time since 2010. By contrast, the Grand Alliance failed to secure even 50 seats, despite pre-election speculation. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party won no seats, and Congress’s accusations of vote theft proved to be unfounded. The NDA’s dominance was evident statewide; even strong opponents struggled. Though Tejashwi retained his seat, his alliance’s claims of change proved hollow. He now faces the challenge of leading the opposition.

The seat gains were nothing compared to his claims. The question is whether the NDA and the BJP’s massive victory was due to Nitish’s image as “Sushasan Babu” or the Modi factor? Perhaps both factors played a role, ultimately yielding a favorable outcome for the NDA. Now, the discussion in Patna is whether Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as Chief Minister for the 10th time, or whether the BJP will nominate one of its own leaders. Indeed, Nitish has been a prominent figure in Bihar politics for half a century. He has also changed alliances, earning him the nickname “Paltu Kumar,” but ultimately, he described the alliance with the BJP as a “homecoming.” The opposition spread rumors about Nitish’s old age and ill health, but ignoring him isn’t easy in Bihar politics. His claims of good governance have largely been accepted by the people.

A worrying fact that emerged during these elections was that the Nitish government, in an attempt to woo women, distributed 10,000 rupees into women’s bank accounts just before the elections, presumably to influence their vote. Now, the Election Commission itself must be questioned: will election agendas simply be filled with promises of freebies? This is not a healthy face of democracy.

Every election agenda should include the announcement of new construction projects. There should be a pledge to combat unemployment and corruption. The practice of luring voters to secure votes is not conducive to democracy. However, such election agendas seem far-fetched. Therefore, in the upcoming elections, every party will be seen announcing similar election promises. There is a need to change the face of the Legislative Assembly and the Council of Members. Why do accused individuals always win by claiming they are not criminals, only to then tarnish the image of the Legislative Assembly? Even in the new Bihar Assembly, the challenge before Nitish Babu will be how he will be able to build a civilized and educated society for the bright future of Bihar while avoiding these tainted people.