The final results of the Bihar Assembly elections delivered a massive victory to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which successfully retained power by winning a decisive 202 out of the 243 assembly constituencies. However, an analysis of the official data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) reveals a significant paradox in the results, particularly concerning the popular vote distribution.
While the NDA’s win was overwhelming in terms of seats, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), despite its poor performance of securing only 25 seats, garnered the highest vote share among all parties in the fray.
Party-Wise Vote Share Breakdown
The data shows that the RJD, led by Tejashwi Yadav, received 23 per cent of the total votes, demonstrating a powerful concentration of support despite the party’s failure to convert those votes into a substantial seat tally.
The two main NDA allies followed closely in the popular vote:
- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): Secured the second-highest vote share with 20.8 per cent. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party, winning 89 seats.
- Janata Dal (United) – JD(U): Received the third-highest vote share at 19.25 per cent, securing 85 seats and ensuring its ally, the BJP, took the top spot in the seat count.
Other parties also contributed to the overall electoral landscape:
- Indian National Congress (INC): Received 8.71 per cent of the total vote share, accounting for around 43 lakh votes, but only managed to win 6 seats.
- Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) – LJP(RV): The party, steered by Chirag Paswan, secured 4.97 per cent of the vote share, which proved highly efficient in helping the NDA by translating into 19 seats.
- CPI (ML)L: Received 2.84 per cent of the vote share in the elections.
The combined vote share of the NDA’s major partners—BJP and JD(U)—comfortably exceeded 40 per cent, which, combined with the votes from smaller allies, proved sufficient to deliver a sweeping mandate across two-thirds of the state.
Opposition Reaction and Allegations
The massive defeat of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, which struggled to win just 35 seats, triggered sharp condemnations and allegations of malpractice from its leaders.
- Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi swiftly rejected the results, labeling the election “unfair from the beginning.” He assured the public that the Congress would conduct a thorough review and continue its fight for the protection of democracy.
- Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X, stating that the party would conduct a deep study of the election results to “understand the reasons for this outcome.”
- Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera intensified the rhetoric, calling the elections a “robbery in daylight,” and stated that “thieves steal in hiding.”
- Another Congress spokesperson, Jairam Ramesh, went further, calling the Bihar election results “large-scale vote theft orchestrated by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Election Commission.”
Despite the strong opposition criticism, the election results remain a powerful endorsement of the NDA’s coalition and campaign strategy. The Mahagathbandhan’s failure was compounded by the inability of new entrants, such as Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party, to register any seats despite an extensive campaign effort across Bihar.