Mahagathbandhan crumbled under its own weight in Bihar

Only a federal structure that treats regional satraps as co-owners rather than junior allies can survive the centrifugal forces of Indian politics

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Bihar's November 2025 electoral massacrewhere the opposition alliance limped to a mere 35 seats against the NDA's 202-has delivered the final verdict: the I.N.D.I.A. bloc is dead.

What began in 2023 as a 26-party challenge to the ruling establishment managed a respectable 234 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on the strength of patchy state-level deals. Eighteen months later, that coalition has quietly disintegrated, torn apart by Congress's electoral deadweight, the absence of any roadmap beyond the last general election, perpetual confusion over who is still inside the tent, and open rebellion from the very regional heavyweights who once kept it afloat.

The rest of the piece is merely the autopsy of a corpse everyone already knew was cold. Bihar delivered the clearest autopsy. The Mahagathbandhan of RJD, Congress, and Left parties went into the November 2025 assembly election hoping to capitalise on anti-incumbency against Nitish Kumar's return to the NDA.

The result was catastrophic: the alliance was reduced to 35 seats in a house of 243, while the NDA swept 202. Congress, which contested 40 seats, managed to win only three. In seat after seat, its candidates forfeited deposits. The RJD, the only genuine mass party in the coalition, repeatedly complained during negotiations that Congress was demanding far more seats than its organisational strength or vote share justified.