Bihar Election 2025: RJD Secures Highest Vote Share Despite NDA Victory and Seat Deficit

The RJD emerged as the single largest party in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections.

Patna:

While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appears set to maintain power in Bihar, the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), likely facing its worst electoral setback since 2010, has found a silver lining in securing the highest vote share.

The Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD has garnered a vote share of 22.79 percent, exceeding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 2.27 percent and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) by 3.8 percent, according to the latest data from the Election Commission.

Despite contesting 143 seats in the 243-member assembly, the RJD is currently leading in only 25 constituencies. These results appear to mark the RJD's second-poorest performance in a Bihar election since 2010, when it won merely 22 seats.

Tejashwi Yadav, the opposition Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate, is currently trailing in his Raghopur constituency. He has received 33,347 votes, falling behind BJP's Satish Kumar by 2,288 votes.

The RJD's allies in the Mahagathbandhan coalition are also underperforming, with the Congress leading in just five seats, the CPIM(L) Liberation in two, and the CPI failing to lead in any constituency.

In contrast, the NDA is ahead in 204 seats, with the BJP leading in 92, the JDU in 84, Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in 19, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha in five, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha in four.

Both Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party and Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) are trailing across all contested seats.

Bihar voted in two phases on November 6 and November 11, recording over 66 percent voter turnout – the highest in the state since 1951. Male voter participation stood at 62.8 percent, while female turnout reached 71.6 percent.