- By Priyanka Koul
- Fri, 14 Nov 2025 02:43 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bihar Election 2025: The initial trends from the Bihar Assembly election counting indicate a major setback for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which appears to be heading toward one of its biggest electoral defeats. The Tejashwi Yadav-led party, which contested 143 seats, is currently leading in just 28. If these numbers hold, it would mark a dramatic fall for the RJD, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 2020 state elections.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP is leading in 91 seats, the JD(U) in 81, the LJP-RV in 21, HAM in five, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha in four.
RJD's 2 Worst Performance? Why This Could Be One of Their Worst Defeats
This could be the RJD’s second-worst performance in a Bihar Assembly election if its seat count falls below 28, as it would be lower than in most previous elections. The only time the RJD did worse was in 2010, when it won just 22 seats.
In the February 2005 polls, when Nitish Kumar swept to power after a strong NDA victory, the RJD had managed 55 seats. At that time, Rabri Devi-Tejashwi Yadav’s mother was the Chief Minister, and the party was facing rising anti-incumbency in a largely male-dominated political landscape. Nitish Kumar, then a popular face allied with the BJP, delivered a decisive win that ended RJD’s long reign over Bihar. The party’s worst performance came in 2010, when it secured just 22 seats.
The current results represent a significant rebuff to the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD, which had campaigned on ambitious promises: government jobs for every household, Rs 2,500 monthly assistance to women under the Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, and an enhanced honorarium of Rs 30,000 for Jeevika Didis.
Twenty years later, and after multiple political realignments, the BJP and JD(U) are once again contesting together and appear headed for a substantial victory. As of 2:00 pm, the alliance is leading in 200 of the 243 Assembly seats. If these trends continue, Tejashwi Yadav may end up presiding over his party’s poorest electoral performance since its founding in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Despite its overall struggles, the RJD currently maintains the highest vote share among the Mahagathbandhan parties as per ECI Data. This suggests that while the party has won some constituencies by large margins, it has failed to convert closely contested seats into victories.
Bihar recorded a historic voter turnout of 67.13 per cent in the two-phase elections held on November 6 and 11. As counting continues, the BJP is performing even better than in the previous polls. Prominent BJP leaders including Samrat Choudhary from Tarapur, Maithili Thakur from Alinagar, and Health Minister Mangal Pandey have maintained consistent leads since the early rounds.
Several rounds of counting remain, and the situation could still evolve. For now, however, the RJD is far behind, and the NDA appears poised to return to power once again.