The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections. The 243 Assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11. Results will be announced on November 14.
In the 2015 election, RJD won 80 seats worth 18.8% vote share while Congress won 27 seats with a vote share of 6.8%. The JDU won 71 seats with a vote share of 17.3%. The BJP won 53 seats with a vote share of 25%, while other parties won 8 seats with a share of 22.5%.
The Nitish Kumar-RJD-Congress alliance was short lived with Nitish Kumar walking out and then forming a government with the BJP led NDA in 2017. Sushil Kumar Modi was sworn in as Deputy CM.
In the 2020 election Nitish Kumar continued his alliance with the NDA getting a majority in Legislature Assembly by winning 125 seats. In August 2022, Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP and resigned as Chief Minister and formed the government with the RJD-Congress led Mahagathbandhan. He also became a key figure in the formation of the combined opposition-the INDIA bloc.
However, Kumar’s partnership with the RJD lasted just short of two years and in January 2024, ahead of the Parliamentary polls Kumar walked back to the NDA. This time Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United and the BJP lead an NDA alliance which also has Chirag Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitin Manjhi’s Hindustan Awami Morcha and the Upendra Khushwaha led Rashtriya Lok Shakti Party (RLSP) as its constituents.
In these elections, the NDA will be up against the INDIA bloc of the Tejashwi Yadav led RJD, the Congress, the Deepankar Bhattacharya led CPI (ML), CPI, CPM and Mukesh Sahani’s Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). This time Bihar will also see the entry of a new player in the form of Prashant Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj.
The NDA is banking on the Charisma of PM Narendra Modi and the social schemes that the centre and the state have.
With inputs from ANI
Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
