Patna: The BJP-led NDA appears headed for a sweeping victory in Bihar, taking commanding leads in over 180 of the state’s 243 assembly seats. Early trends suggest the BJP is on course for its strongest-ever performance in the state, leading in more than 80 of the 101 seats it contested—an outcome that would reaffirm its status as the country’s dominant political force despite last year’s Lok Sabha setback.
The NDA’s surge in Bihar comes on the heels of impressive wins in Delhi, Maharashtra, and Haryana. Strong backing for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders also seems to have boosted the JD(U), which is set for a dramatic improvement from its 2020 tally of 43 seats, now leading in over 70 constituencies.
The LJP (RV), led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan—who calls himself the Prime Minister’s “Hanuman”—is leading in more than 20 of the 29 seats it contested, marking a standout performance.
Meanwhile, the RJD, long claiming the title of Bihar’s “single largest party,” is struggling, leading in fewer than 40 of the 140+ seats it fought. The Congress, contesting 61 seats and engaging in several “friendly fights” with allies, is performing poorly as well, leading in fewer than 10 constituencies.
If these trends hold, the BJP will outperform the JD(U) for the second consecutive assembly election, potentially fueling internal demands for the party to install its “own chief minister.” However, both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have maintained that the NDA in Bihar continues to be led by Nitish Kumar—an approach shaped by the BJP’s reliance on allies such as the JD(U) and TDP in the Lok Sabha.
Among the BJP’s prominent candidates in the lead are Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary (Tarapur) and Vijay Kumar Sinha (Lakhisarai).
RJD leader and INDIA bloc’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav is trailing BJP’s Satish Kumar by roughly 100 votes, while his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav—expelled from the RJD earlier this year—has slipped to a distant fourth in Mahua.
