Nitish Kumar's historic triumph : How Bihar rewrote rules of electoral politics

Dipak Kurmi
The political landscape of Bihar witnessed a remarkable phenomenon on Friday, November 14, 2025, as the National Democratic Alliance, led by the veteran chief minister Nitish Kumar, defied conventional political wisdom and secured a commanding two-thirds majority in the state assembly elections. In an era where anti-incumbency has become the norm and governments struggle to retain power beyond two terms, Kumar's coalition was heading towards winning 202 out of 243 seats, marking an extraordinary achievement that places this electoral outcome among the most significant in recent Indian political history.
This victory carries profound implications not merely for its numerical magnitude but for what it represents in the broader context of Indian democracy. For a government seeking its fourth consecutive term to return with such overwhelming support challenges the established political narrative that long tenures inevitably breed voter fatigue and discontent. The Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, as the principal constituents of the NDA, orchestrated a campaign that successfully navigated the treacherous waters of anti-incumbency, economic distress, and a reinvigorated opposition alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party.
The magnitude of this mandate finds its closest parallel in the 2010 elections when the BJP-JDU alliance had secured 206 seats, reducing Lalu Prasad's RJD to a mere 22 seats. However, the 2025 victory carries greater significance precisely because of the context in which it was achieved. The 2010 mandate represented a wave of optimism, a collective aspiration for change after fifteen years of what was widely perceived as administrative neglect under RJD rule. Voters in that election were endorsing a promise, a vision of Bihar transformed through governance reforms encompassing law and order, road infrastructure, and basic administrative efficiency. By 2025, however, the challenge was fundamentally different. The NDA was not selling hope but defending a two-decade-long record, attempting to convince an electorate that had grown familiar with its achievements and increasingly aware of its limitations.
The concerns that clouded the NDA's campaign were substantial and could not be easily dismissed. Questions about Nitish Kumar's advancing age and health had begun circulating in political circles and tea stalls alike. There was a growing perception that beyond the visible improvements in roads, electricity supply, and law and order, the government had struggled to deliver transformative change in education, healthcare, and employment generation. These anxieties had begun sowing seeds of dissatisfaction, creating the kind of anti-incumbency sentiment that typically dooms long-serving governments. Moreover, the opposition had found renewed energy and organisational strength, particularly after the RJD's improved performance in the 2020 elections, which had emboldened the party to mount a spirited challenge.
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