What Led To Mahagathbandhan's Crushing Loss In Bihar? Here's What Experts Have To Say

Patna: The crushing defeat of the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections has left the opposition alliance partners the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, and the Left parties with less than 35 seats. Their performance was so dismal that even the RJD, which was the largest party in the previous election with 75 seats, struggled to retain its position as the Leader of the Opposition.

Results of the polls on the Election Commission's website shows the RJD has won 25 seats, while the Congress is down to just six, from 19 in 2020. The Left parties, which had won 18 seats in 2020, are left with only three, while another MGB constituent, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), failed to open its account (It had won four seats in 2020 as part of the NDA). In a way, it can be said that along with Tejashwi Yadav's position as the face of the MGB in Bihar, his party has collapsed in what were once considered the RJD's strongholds.

The ruling NDA, which needed just 122 seats in the 243-seat Assembly to get simple majority, ended up with over 200. And, going by the stunned look on their faces, not even hardcore NDA supporters were expecting this outcome.

In terms of vote percentage, the RJD again received the highest, at 22.02 per cent, followed by the BJP with 20.11 per cent, the JDU with 19.25 per cent, and the Congress with 8.75 per cent. In 2020, the MGB had won 110 seats in total, while the NDA had garnered 125.

Opinion Of Experts

Already, MGB leaders are in a huddle discussing the reasons behind their defeat. On this subject, different political analysts expressed different opinions. Senior journalist Sunil Pandey said, "The responsibility for the MGB's downfall lies with the thought process driving its leaders Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Yadav, and the Congress's Rahul Gandhi, with VIP's Mukesh Sahni making up for the rest. Tejashwi's vision for 2020 elections was completely reversed in 2025. It's possible that this is because Lalu Prasad Yadav is out of jail now, and that he's been guiding his son."

He added, "Lalu campaigning for Reet Lal Yadav just a few days before the elections must have reminded people of the 'Jungle Raj' days, because even today, it scares everyone."

What Party Leaders Had To Say

Shakti Singh, the chief spokesperson of the RJD, has described the results as illogical and "an EVM tsunami". He said that people of Bihar will suffer the consequences of this outcome, with Biharis getting beaten up and forced to go from door to door in search of livelihood in other states."

Bihar BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the election results clearly reflect the consistent work done by the double-engine sarkar in the interest of the people. As for the MGB, this is a result of their arrogance and infighting. "Now, the Congress is left with just 2-3 seats. Tejashwi Yadav can pack up his bags, as his politics is over in Bihar."

JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said people of Bihar didn't want a repeat of the Jungle Raj of Lalu's time. That is why they once again reposed their faith in Nitish Kumar with a landslide majority for the NDA. He said the MGB was marred by internal conflicts and lack of coordination within the alliance, leading to a last-minute seat-sharing decision, all of which caused the disaster.

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