Bihar Election 2025: In the Bihar polls, the Mahagathbandhan and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters. With only a few weeks to go before the official poll date announcement, both alliances have failed to secure a seat-sharing deal. Notably, the junior partners are turning out to be the real headache for both sides. While the LJP(RV) is emerging as the real challenge for the BJP-JD(U), it’s Congress and Left that have turned headache for the RJD.
Mahagathbandhan’s Seat-Sharing Challenge
Notably, in the 2020 assembly polls, the Congress contested 70 seats but won only 19 seats. In the 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections, Congress had contested 41 seats and won 27. Notably, while the RJD was the single largest party, its failure to form a government then was attributed to the Congress party’s abysmal performance. In the 2020 polls, the RJD has bagged 75 seats of the total 144 it contested. Now, Congress has once again demanded 70 seats from Tejashwi Yadav, exuding confidence of strong performance on at least 27 seats and a tight contest on the rest, said reports.
Also Read: Bihar Polls: How A Non-Existent JMM Is Spelling Trouble For Tejashwi Yadav's RJD
The Left parties are also demanding around 40-45 seats. Notably, in the 2020 elections, the CPI(M-L)(Liberation) secured 12 out of the 19 seats it contested. The other Left allies in the Mahagathbandhan—CPI(M) and CPI—won two seats each, while both narrowly lost one constituency by margins of fewer than 5,000 votes.
NDA’s Seat Sharing Headache
Notably, the LJP (RV) led by Chirag Paswan has demanded around 40 seats this time. The JD(U) has reportedly made it clear that it will either contest either one seat more or equal to that of the BJP. According to reports, the BJP is expected to contest around 101 seats, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) may be allocated 102 seats—one more than its senior ally. The smaller partners in the coalition are also likely to see significant gains. Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) could receive between 18 and 22 seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha are each expected to secure between 7 and 9 seats.
Bihar will go to the polls in October-November this year.
