Key takeaways from Bihar election result

In a closely fought election, Nitish Kumar has managed to secure a fourth term in office, thanks to the BJP. It was BJP’s numbers that pulled up the NDA with significant gains at a time when JDU’s numbers went down sharply in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election.

The NDA has managed to cross the required majority mark of 122 seats even though Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD emerged as the single-largest party in the 243 member Bihar assembly.

From Tejashwi Yadav’s big arrival in Bihar politics, to Nitish Kumar’s position in NDA suffering a blow and Chirag Paswan not performing for LJP as expected , here are some keytakeaways from the Bihar election result.

Thin margin keeps NDA in power

NDA has won 125 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly where 122 is the majority mark. Nitish Kumar-led NDA with JDU, BJP and the smaller parties of HAM and VIP has managed to cross the halfway mark to give Nitish Kumar his fourth term in the office.

BJP has won 74 seats while JDU has managed to bag 43 seats. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and VP gained four seats each. Both HAM and VP joind NDA months before the Bihar election after quitting Mahagathbandhan(MGB).

RJD emerged as the single-largest party

This is the first Bihar election that RJD contested without the presence of party supermo Lalu Prasad as he is in jail after convicted in the fodder scam case. Thrity one year old Tejashwi Yadav, who was earlier a part of the Mahagathbandhan with Nitish Kumar, has announced his big arrival with RJD’s startling yet amazing performance in the Bihar assembly election 2020.

RJD has emerged as the single largest party in Bihar and won 75 seats. JDU and BJP kept reminding voters of the atrocities during RJD’s rule under Lalu Prasad Yadav 15 years ago, yet the party has managed to win big. RJD gained the highest vote share among all parties with 23.11%.

This election was a “coming of age” moment for Tejashwi Yadav after RJD’s unprecedented drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when RJD failed to open its account.

BJP gains upper hand over JDU

Bharathiya Janata Party, has always played second fiddle to Nitish Kumar’s JDU in Bihar.

However in the 2020 Bihar assembly election, BJP has managed to trump not just the MGB, but also its own alliance partner JDU.

With 74 seats, BJP did a better job comparing to 2015 tally of 53 seats, giving the party a upper hand over JDU which has been reduced to 43 seats in 2020, from its 71 seats in 2015.

Although Nitish Kumar is likely to continue as the chief minister of Bihar, BJP will be more assertive and have a greater share in the next Bihar government.

Fall of LJP

During the campaign for Bihar assembly election, Chirag Paswan started attacking Nitish Kumar over his 15 year rule in Bihar, accusing the government of mismanagement. Chirag broke ties with the NDA and announced LJP as an independent party. But LJP decided to support BJP sans JDU.

The Lok Janshakthi Party (LJP) has won just one seat and caused a significant damage to JDU and Nitish Kumar. According to reports, LJP has been instrumental in spoiling JDU’s chances in at least 30 seats.

Congress let down Mahagathbandhan

Congress has barely managed to win 19 seats in the this election, a tally lower than its own count in 2015, when Congress had won 27 seats.

Congress has performed poorly particularly in the seats where it was in direct contest with BJP and became the weakest link for the MGB.

Tejashwi Yadav’s decision to give 70 seats to Congress was a bad move that cost his party MGB a lot.

Left party win big

The Left parties contested in 29 seats in the Bihar assembly elections tying up with MGB and won 16 seats, performing better than some anticipated.

The biggest gainer was the CPI-ML, which clinched 12 seats, followed by the CPI and CPI-M, which won two each. Barring the CPI-ML, which had three seats in the outgoing assembly, none of the Left parties had a presence in Bihar assembly before this.

Surprise performance from Owaisi

Asaduddin Owaisi’s  All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has managed to win five seats, which was a surprising turn of events. They were slammed as ‘vote cutter’and spoiler in Bihar Assembly elections, but AIMIM won five Muslim-dominated seats, giving a befitting reply to their critics.