NDA scores a double century in blow to Mahagathbandhan

>BJP single-largest party in Bihar; big gain for Nitish’s JD(U) >Setback for Tejashwi-led RJD; Cong tally second-lowest ever

- ARCHIS MOHAN

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the single largest party in a Bihar Assembly election for the first time, as it led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to a landslide win in results declared on Friday.

The performance follows the party’s setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, when it fell short of a simple majority.

The BJP won 89 seats, while its allies in the NDA also posted strong performances. The Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) secured its best tally since 2010 with 85 seats, and Union minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) won 19 seats. In all, the NDA scored a “double-century”, finishing with 202 seats.

The Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won just 25 seats — only three more than its worst tally of 22 in 2010 — with party leader Tejashwi Yadav failing to reprise his 2020 appeal. This was even as the RJD secured the highest vote share among all parties at 23 per cent. The Congress won only six seats, two more than its worst showing in 2010. Addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted a split in the Congress.

Modi said the BJP had consolidated its electoral footprint since the marginal reverses it had faced in the Lok Sabha polls.