Bihar Election 2025: Satish Kumar Yadav Poised to Defeat Tejashwi Yadav in Raghopur After Beating Rabri Devi in 2010

New Delhi:

Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav, the opposition's chief ministerial candidate, is facing a potential humiliating defeat in the family stronghold of Raghopur during the 2025 Bihar election.

At 1 pm, he was narrowly leading the Bharatiya Janata Party's Satish Kumar Yadav by just 585 votes.

A defeat for Tejashwi Yadav would represent a dramatic development in Bihar politics.

Even more significant is the identity of his opponent. Fifteen years ago in Raghopur, Satish Kumar delivered a powerful blow to the Rashtriya Janata Dal by defeating Lalu Yadav's wife, Rabri Devi.

Who is this potential giant-killer looking to repeat his historic feat?

Satish Kumar, 59, began his political journey with the RJD.

An influential figure in the Yadav community – which represents approximately 15 percent of Bihar's population – Kumar switched allegiance to Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United in 2005 and contested from Raghopur. His first attempt resulted in defeat, with Rabri Devi securing victory by over 25,000 votes.

Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi (File).

2010 marked Kumar's revenge year, when he finished more than 13,000 votes ahead of Rabri Devi.

He returned to defend his seat in 2015, this time representing the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The party switch did not yield the desired results; Kumar placed second in both the 2015 and 2020 elections, losing to Tejashwi Yadav on both occasions and receiving less than 40 percent of the votes each time.

However, 2025 could prove to be third time lucky for Kumar.

Beyond this individual contest, Tejashwi Yadav and the Mahagathbandhan alliance appear to be facing a comprehensive defeat.

The ruling BJP-JDU coalition is headed for a landslide victory, exceeding even Home Minister Amit Shah's prediction – which he stated twice to NDTV – of 160 seats.

A defeat for Tejashwi Yadav, a two-time former Deputy Chief Minister and arguably Bihar's most prominent opposition leader, would represent a catastrophic setback for the RJD.

The Mahagathbandhan's defeat will undermine its foundation and affect the larger Congress-led INDIA bloc, particularly ahead of another high-profile election next year in West Bengal.

This outcome will also be interpreted as another indication of discord within the Yadav clan, which in this election is witnessing a brother versus brother confrontation. Tejashwi's disgruntled older brother, Tej Pratap, broke away from the family to establish his own party – the Janshakti Janta Dal.

The JJD leader – who could have directly challenged his brother – ultimately chose to field a proxy candidate, Prem Kumar, who was decisively defeated.

Tej Pratap himself contested from the Mahua constituency. However, he too appears headed for defeat, with the seat likely going to the resurgent Lok Janshakti Party led by BJP ally Chirag Paswan.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.