Bihar election results: NDA nears historic sweep echoing the 2010 landslide

Bihar election results 2025 show the NDA heading towards a decisive mandate, with trends mirroring the historic 2010 sweep when the JD(U)-BJP alliance won 206 of 243 Assembly seats

As the counting for the Bihar Assembly elections 2025 began on November 14, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appears all set to sweep away the opposition in the Bihar polls. When the Election Commission of India (ECI) started the counting for Bihar polls on Friday morning, the early trends surprised everyone with the NDA inching closer to crossing the 200-seat mark by 11:45 a.m.  With the Janata Dal (United) emerging as the biggest seat gainer after a poor show in 2020, where it secured only 43 seats, trends showed the Nitish Kumar-led party leading on 80 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also projected to be leading on 82 seats, eight more than its last tally in 2020.

 

 

Proving many political theorists and commentators wrong, the NDA appears all set to reach a historic sweep of the Bihar polls, an event last witnessed in 2010, when the alliance secured a landslide victory, crossing the 200-seat mark in the 243-seat Assembly.  FOLLOW BIHAR ELECTION RESULTS 2025 LIVE

What made the 2010 JD(U)-BJP sweep historic?

 

The biggest benchmark for a political landslide in Bihar remains the 2010 Assembly election. On November 24 that year, the JD(U)-BJP alliance won 206 of the 243 seats, a sharp jump from their combined 143 seats in 2005. The result consolidated the JD(U)’s dominance under Nitish Kumar and set a new standard for electoral one-sidedness in the state.

 

The RJD, still recovering from its Lok Sabha defeat, was pushed to the margins with just 22 seats, even though it contested alongside the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Former Chief Minister Rabri Devi lost from both constituencies she contested. The influential Paswan family also suffered setbacks, while the Congress’s attempt to expand its footprint resulted in only four seats.

 

How did the 2015 Mahagathbandhan win reshape Bihar’s politics?

 

Five years later, in 2015, Bihar witnessed another major consolidation, this time against the BJP. The Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of the JD(U), RJD and Congress, won 178 of 243 seats, leaving the BJP-led NDA with just 58 seats, while others secured seven.

 

Within the coalition, Lalu Prasad’s RJD emerged on top with 80 seats, JD(U) followed with 71, and Congress contributed 27 seats.

 

On the NDA side, the BJP won 53 seats, Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP took two, Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party secured two, and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha finished with one seat. The decisive win for the Mahagathbandhan was one of the most striking upsets in recent Bihar political history, before Nitish Kumar later shifted his allegiance to the BJP.  ALSO READ | Bihar Assembly election results 2025: Check full list of winners here

Is the 2025 NDA performance repeating the 2010 mandate?

 

If the current trends translate into final results, the NDA’s strong showing would mirror the clean sweep of 2010. The JD(U), which had struggled in 2020 with just 43 seats, is now positioned to register its sharpest recovery in over a decade, while the BJP appears set to improve its tally as well. A sweep of this scale would mark Bihar’s return to the kind of decisive mandates last observed in 2010, altering the balance of power between alliances that have repeatedly shifted over the past 20 years.

 

For parties in the Opposition, including the RJD and Congress, and even the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj, the trends are worrying, with many political pundits urging them to reevaluate electoral strategies, coalition structures and organisational strength ahead of the next political cycle.