Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: NDA victory, SIR controversy and opposition’s missed chances.
Photo Credit: The Suncity News.
Patna, December 28, 2025: As people prepare to welcome the New Year, 2025 will be remembered in Bihar primarily for the Assembly elections, in which the NDA, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, emerged victorious once again.
However, the assembly elections were marred by several significant political developments, the most controversial of which was the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls conducted in just a few weeks, before polling.
During this exercise, over 65 lakh voters were deleted, while around 24 lakh new voters were added to the electoral rolls.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) described the SIR as a massive administrative exercise, completed with the help of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and booth-level agents of registered political parties.
Opposition alleged vote chori during the Bihar Assembly elections:
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, Mukesh Sahani, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mallikarjun Kharge, and others, accused the Election Commission and the ruling NDA of large-scale vote theft (Vote Chori) during the Assembly elections.
In contrast, NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other NDA leaders, strongly defended the ECI.
They claimed that the SIR exercise was aimed at identifying illegal infiltrators, particularly Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims.
However, Tejashwi Yadav and other opposition leaders repeatedly pointed out that the Election Commission, in its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, did not mention the detection of any infiltrators.
The opposition repeatedly demanded data on the number of infiltrators allegedly identified during SIR, but the ECI did not provide any specific figures.
Despite this, NDA leaders continued to raise the infiltrator issue in election rallies, accusing the opposition of protecting illegal migrants.
Voter Adhikar Yatra during the run-up to the Bihar Assembly Elections:
To protest the SIR exercise and raise public awareness, the opposition parties led by Rahul Gandhi launched a month-long Voter Adhikar Yatra, covering more than 25 districts of Bihar.
The leaders highlighted alleged electoral manipulation during rallies and roadshows across the state.
Alliance unity versus internal discord during the assembly elections:
The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections will also be remembered for the NDA’s unity and the Grand Alliance’s internal disputes, which persisted even after the Model Code of Conduct was imposed.
The seat-sharing talks among RJD, Congress, VIP and left parties failed to reach a timely conclusion.
As a result, friendly fight contests occurred on over 12 seats, directly benefiting the NDA.
Despite multiple meetings in Patna and New Delhi involving RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Congress Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, no consensus was reached, primarily due to the Congress’s tough stance.
The Congress demanded over 70 seats, while the RJD was unwilling to offer more than 60 seats.
The Congress also initially hesitated to accept Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial candidate, though it eventually agreed at the last moment.
Finally, Congress senior leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gahlot announced Tejashwi Yadav as a Chief Ministerial candidate and Mukesh Sahani as the Deputy Chief Ministerial candidate for the Bihar Assembly election 2025.
Assembly elections promises:
During the campaign of the Bihar Assembly election, Tejashwi Yadav made several populist promises, including one government job per family, 200 units of free electricity, Rs 2,500 monthly assistance to women under Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, Rs 1,500 social security pension for the elderly, disabled and widows, and others.
These promises were included in the Grand Alliance’s manifesto.
On the other hand, the NDA announced Rs 10,000 cash assistance to women associated with Jeevika groups, Rs 1,100 social security pension, 125 units of free electricity, and a promise of one crore jobs or employment in the next five years. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also stated that beneficiaries of the Rs 10,000 scheme would receive Rs 2 lakh in the future.
Notably, funds were transferred to over 1.59 crore women, even during the Model Code of Conduct and just before the first and second phases of polling.
The opposition leaders alleged that the government was directly bribing voters.
Polling and results of the Bihar Assembly elections:
Amid allegations and counter-allegations, polling was held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results declared on November 14.
The NDA secured a landslide victory, winning 202 seats, including BJP 89, JDU 85, LJPRV 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4 seats.
The Grand Alliance suffered a major setback, winning only 35 seats, including RJD 25, Congress 6, CPI-ML 2, IIP 1 and CPIM 1 seat.
Additionally, AIMIM won 5 seats, while the BSP secured 1 seat.
With this emphatic mandate, Nitish Kumar once again formed the government in Bihar, marking yet another chapter in the state’s complex and often turbulent political history.
He took the oath of the Chief Minister for the 10th consecutive time, which is a record.
Also Read: RJD is not convinced about the NDA’s sweeping victory, likely to challenge it legally.
EOM.