Opposition in Bihar shrinks to 35, lowest level in 15 years; PM hails massive win and says it paves the way for Bengal 2026 | India News

For the Mahagathbandhan, which includes the RJD, the Congress and three Left parties, this was a crushing defeat, greatly reducing the opposition space in the House. As of late at night, the number of seats was hovering around 35.

Hailing the NDA’s ‘Prachand Geet’ (landslide victory) and citing ‘Chathi Maya’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing BJP workers at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi, said Bihar voted for development and progress and destroyed the ‘MY communal formula’ of the Jungle Raj Party – a reference to the RJD and its core base of Muslim Yadavs.

Modi described the ruling as a “victory for democracy” and a “victory for good governance, development, public welfare and social justice” and pledged to work with renewed vigor for the progress of the state.

Reiterating that “Kata Sarkar will never return to Bihar… The people of Bihar voted for Vixit Bihar”, Modi sent a clear warning to the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, where elections will be held next year, saying: “Gangaji Bihar se behati hui, Bangal tak pahunchti hai. Bihar ne Bangal mai BJP ki vijay ka raasta bhibana dia. Hai (The Ganges flows into Bengal through Bihar (Bihar has paved the way for BJP’s victory in Bengal.) I want to assure the people of Bengal: BJP, with your support, will uproot the forest Raj from West Bengal.

In his first remarks, Nitish emphasized “complete unity” among NDA partners, thanked voters and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi, RJD, RJD and HAM. He said Bihar will now go further with the support of all NDA members.

“The people of the state have expressed their confidence in our government by giving us a tremendous mandate at the polls. For this, I bow down to all the esteemed voters of the state and express my sincere gratitude and thanks,” he said in a post on X.

He also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for his support. “The NDA alliance is set to achieve a huge majority in these elections by showing complete unity. For this reason, thanks and gratitude are also due to all the partners of the NDA alliance – Chirag Paswan ji, Jitan Ram Manjhi ji and Upendra Kushwaha ji. With the support of all of you, Bihar will progress further and will be included in the category of most progressive states in the country,” he said.

Chirag Paswan said he firmly believes that Nitish will continue to remain the Prime Minister. He attributed the opposition alliance’s “arrogance” to its “humiliating loss” and said that “the people’s belief in the unity of the NDA partners” was the reason behind their convincing victory.

For Nitsch, who has resisted signs of voter weariness and questions about his shifting political alignments, the mandate reflects a remarkable shift on the ground, suggesting that voters have once again trusted his model of governance, and its mix of Labarthean schemes and subsidies.

The NDA received 46.52% of the votes, far ahead of Mahagathbandhan who got 37.64%. Within the NDA, the BJP received 20.08% of the votes, followed by the JD(U) with 19.26%, the LJP (RV) with 4.97%, the HAM(S) with 1.18%, and the RLM with 1.03%. In Mahagathbandhan, RJD got 23% of votes, Congress 8.71%, Left parties 4.18%, VIP 1.38% and IAS 0.37%.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, the Mahagathbandhan marginally edged the NDA in terms of vote share – 38.75% versus 37.26%. In Mahagathbandhan, RJD got 23.11% votes, followed by Congress 9.48% and Left parties 4.64%. In the NDA, the BJP led with a vote share of 19.46%, followed by the JD(U) with 15.39%, the HM(S) with 0.89%, and the VIPs – who were NDA members then – with 1.52%. That year, the undivided LJP and RLM competed independently, winning 5.66% and 1.77% of the vote, respectively.

The dynamics within the NDA may change this time if the BJP becomes more assertive. But what may hinder this is the importance of the JD(U) as an ally at the Center with 12 MPs.

The BJP, by being the senior alliance partner with more influence over junior allies than the JD(U), can assert more in terms of policy decisions, appointment of bureaucrats and secure better portfolios for its ministers, a JD(U) source said.

“This is where Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and JD(U) National Action Chief Sanjay Kumar Jha should come in and ensure there is a balance,” a JD(U) source said.

However, a BJP leader said: “Nothing like that will happen. Nitish Kumar will take over as chief minister again. In 2010, Nitish got 115 seats, just seven short of the majority. He could have abandoned the BJP at that time, but he didn’t.”

– With Angeshnu Das in New Delhi