Finance
Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are rejoicing as the party-led alliance had a landslide victory in India’s northern state of Bihar.
The 2025 Bihar assembly elections produced a combination of predictable successes and surprise results, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on track to win 200 or more seats in the 243-seat house.
The Election Commission reported that the NDA has already gained 111 seats as of 7:30 p.m. The BJP emerged as the front-runner, with 64 victories and leads in 26 constituencies. According to the Election Commission, its ally, JD(U), won 47 seats and led in 37 others as of 7:30 p.m. Smaller allies also made an impact, with LJP(RV) winning 11 seats and leading in eight more, while HAM(S) won two and was leading in three.
Meanwhile, the opposing INDIA alliance made minor gains, claiming at least 16 seats by 7:30 p.m. RJD won 14 seats and was leading in 11 more, while Congress won one and led in five. CPI(ML) Liberation and CPI(M) each gained a seat, with CPI(ML) leading in one more constituency.
Key leaders maintain stronghold
Several key NDA leaders maintained their seats. The significant winners included Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, as well as state ministers Prem Kumar, Maheshwar Hazari, and Sanjay Saraogi.
Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD won the Raghopur seat, but his estranged brother, Janshakti Janata Dal president Tej Pratap Yadav, lost the Mahua constituency.
Bhojpuri star-turned-politician Shatrughan Yadav, aka Khesari Lal Yadav, the RJD candidate for Chapra, was defeated by the BJP’s Chhoti Kumari. The BJP fielded singer Maithili Thakur for the Alinagar seat, and she won in her first election.
Prem Kumar, the BJP’s senior leader and departing agricultural minister, maintained his unbroken record in Gaya Town, a constituency he has represented since 1990. He defeated Congress rival Akhouri Onkar Nath by more than 26,000 votes.
Raju Kumar Singh, the tourism minister who won on a VIP ticket in 2020 before converting to the BJP, maintained his seat by defeating RJD’s Prithwi Nath Ray by more over 13,000 votes.
Even jailed contender Anant Singh, who was imprisoned for the murder of Jan Suraaj Party member Dular Chandra Yadav during the campaign, remained victorious.
Bihar polls kept voters and observers on edge all day, with shifting leads. While numerous political heavyweights were unexpectedly defeated, dark-horse candidates came to prominence, making counting day a rollercoaster of surprises.
Source: HT
