IndianRepublic.in

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has secured a commanding majority in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party and the JD(U) recording its best performance in over a decade.  Image Source: JP Nadda Final results from the Election Commission show the NDA winning 202 of 243 seats, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan collapsed to just 35. The biggest structural factor behind the NDA’s sweep was a flawless seat-sharing arrangement between BJP and JD(U), which each contested 101 seats, with remaining constituencies allocated to smaller allies.  The alliance executed a tightly coordinated campaign that combined governance delivery, strategic caste consolidation, and sharp messaging around law and order. The BJP focused on consolidating upper castes and youth, while Nitish Kumar retained strong support among Kurmis and economically backward classes.  The ...

Bihar stands at a political crossroads today as vote counting begins across 46 centres to determine the outcome of the 2025 Assembly elections. The verdict will decide whether Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving leader, can secure a record fifth term with the BJP-led NDA or if a change of guard awaits after two decades of near-continuous rule. Image Source: Startup Bihar Voting was conducted in two phases on November 6 and 11, drawing a historic voter turnout of 67.13 percent—the highest in the state’s electoral history. More than 7.45 crore registered voters cast their ballots across 243 Assembly constituencies, choosing among 2,616 candidates.  The Election Commission of India has deployed 243 returning officers and an equal number of counting observers, alongside over 18,000 counting agents, to oversee the process. Strongroom security has been tightened with round-the-clock surveillance and Central Armed Paramilitary Forces guarding the EVMs and VVPATs. Ini...

A politically charged atmosphere has gripped the state of Bihar, fuelled by high-decibel campaigns, allegations of voter suppression, and the deployment of polarising narratives. The first phase of polling on November 6 recorded a historic 65.08% voter turnout--an electoral milestone that set the tone for a fiercely contested race across the remaining 122 constituencies voting on November 11. Image Source: Nitish Kumar The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA is seeking continuity under the banner of development and national security, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah leading an aggressive campaign to consolidate voter sentiment in the outer belt of the state, particularly in the Seemanchal region, where security and demographic concerns have taken centre stage.  PM Modi has framed infiltration as a "national challenge" and promised decisive action, referring to his government’s crackdown on illegal migrants as part of a broader effort to “lock out...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi closed the Bihar campaign on Saturday with a high-decibel pitch for the NDA, declaring at a packed rally in Chanpatia, West Champaran, that he would return to the state “after the spectacular victory on November 14” for the government’s swearing-in.  Modi Closes Bihar Campaign With NDA Pitch, Vows Return After Victory; Image Via: PM NaMo Addressing two rallies within hours -- the second in Sitamarhi -- PM Modi sought to frame the election as a binary between what he called a development-driven NDA and the “jungle raj” of past RJD regimes. Speaking to a sea of supporters under cellphone lights, Modi invoked the symbolic glow as Bihar’s aspiration for progress, vowing that the state would not allow a return to the lawlessness associated with the Lalu-Rabri era.  He reeled off welfare measures under the NDA government, including the Rs 10,000 direct transfer to 1.4 crore Jeevika didis , 50% reservation for women in panchayati raj, and 35% quot...

In a good beginning to the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the first phase of polling across 121 seats on November 6 recorded a voter turnout of 64.66%,  among the highest in the state’s history for an Assembly election.  Image Source: Election Commission of India The previous record was 62.57% set in 2000. This surpasses even Bihar’s Lok Sabha turnout peak of 64.6% in 1998. The Election Commission credited voters and polling staff for the “festive mood” and peaceful conduct. But behind the celebration lies a more complex political terrain shaped by massive voter roll revisions, a fractured political landscape, and strategic voter mobilisation. Electoral Enthusiasm or Statistical Mirage? The turnout spike comes against the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls earlier this year, during which 47 lakh names were deleted. The voter base dropped from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore. The opposition alleged the deletions targeted marginalised and poor communitie...

At a time when India barrels toward a high-stakes election in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s orchestrated roadshow through Patna on Sunday was a spectacle of control, an exhibition of the mass popularity he commands in the heart of the Hindi heartland.  Image Source: PM NaMo Stretching across key points in the state capital, the three-kilometre carnival unfurled a choreographed surge of saffron and was complete with chants, choreographed beats, and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh marking territory for the Prime Minister in his own bastion. Modi, the master campaigner, rode high on a custom-decked vehicle, waving through a hail of flower petals and security cordons. But beyond the optics, the message was bluntly that the BJP-led NDA is tightening its grip on narrative, which is increasingly centred on Modi alone. पटना में आज विशाल रोड शो में शामिल होने का सुअवसर मिला। मैंने उत्साह से भरी यहां की जनता-जनार्दन से बिहार के विधानसभा चुनावों में एनडीए को भरपूर आशीर्वाद द...

Janata Dal (United) candidate and former Mokama MLA Anant Singh was arrested late Saturday night in connection with the murder of Jan Suraaj Party worker and ex-RJD strongman Dularchand Yadav.  The arrest followed a dramatic late-night police operation at Singh’s residence in Barh involving over 150 personnel, as confirmed by Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma. Image Source: MLA_AnantSingh on X The high-profile arrest comes just four days before the first phase of Bihar’s assembly elections, and marks a turning point in one of the state’s most closely watched -- and violently contested -- electoral battles. According to police, Dularchand Yadav was shot and run over during a clash between rival political groups while campaigning in Mokama on October 30. A post-mortem report confirmed that Yadav’s ribcage had been crushed, indicating he was fatally run over after being shot. The incident took place in Basavanchak village in Patna district. An FIR filed by Yadav...

The blood on the streets of Mokama is a mirror held up to the soul of Bihar’s politics -- cracked, dark, and deliberately ignored. Dularchand Yadav, a gangster-turned-politician, was killed while campaigning for change. Let that sink in: the only way change seems possible in Bihar is when it is endorsed by the very muscle that held it hostage for decades. Representational Image: Aravind Varier The killing of Yadav in broad daylight -- shot, run over, and discarded like political waste -- days before the state votes, tells us something Bihar has screamed for years: democracy here survives on life support and it is fed by syndicates and sanctioned by silence. And the real killing is of hope. Every election, Biharis line up hoping for development, for jobs, for law and order. But what do they get? The same recycled strongmen, different scarves. One year they wear saffron, the next red or green. Only the flag changes -- the mafia remains. The Crime-Politics Nexus: Bihar’s Incurable Canc...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman In Bihar’s never-ending political circus, the 2025 Assembly elections have descended into a theatre of implosion, betrayal, and tactical demolition. What was initially thought of as a contest over vision, governance, and employment has degenerated into a free-for-all -- dominated by muscle power, money, and managed failures. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Pic via the former. Let’s not sugarcoat it. The BJP has outsmarted, out-organised, and outmanoeuvred every other party in this election. But its biggest victory is not at the polling booths. It is in the boardrooms of Bihar’s collapsing political alliances -- especially the JDU. With surgical precision, BJP has allowed Nitish Kumar’s party to rot from within, offering just enough rope for it to hang itself. From baffling ticket distributions to social media optics that never translated on the ground, the JDU looks more like a party planning for defeat than one contesting for power. ...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the creation of a National Makhana Board, fulfilling a long-standing promise to a state that produces 90% of India’s fox nuts, and flagged off new trains and an airport terminal designed to pull the Seemanchal region onto the national grid.  Indian PM Modi with key alliance leaders in Bihar He underscored that more than 40,000 families received homes under the PM Awas Yojana, adding to the 4 crore already built since 2014, and vowed to build 3 crore more. Congratulations to the people of Purnea and surrounding areas on the new airport terminal building, which will boost commerce, connectivity and tourism. pic.twitter.com/S2omZqmmaj — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2025 At the launch event in Purnea, Modi framed the projects--spanning railways, aviation, power, irrigation and housing--as part of his “guarantee” of development for Bihar’s poorest.  The ₹40,000 crore package includes a 2,400 MW thermal power plant...

The Indian state of Bihar is becoming a stage for three distinct and competing visions of politics : one built on continuity and development, another on democratic safeguards and electoral integrity, and a third on grassroots accountability through confrontation. Representational Image Source: Mr Democratic on X Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, newly installed as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was in Araria this weekend alongside Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and other INDIA bloc allies. The occasion was part of the Voter Adhikar Yatra , a 1,300-kilometre campaign traversing more than 20 districts and designed to rally public attention around the fairness of the electoral process in the upcoming state polls. LIVE: Joint press briefing by Shri @RahulGandhi and other Mahagathbandhan leaders | Bihar. https://t.co/e0S3Gjha8X — Congress (@INCIndia) August 24, 2025 Gandhi claimed that the alliance is “ideologically and politically aligned,” and promised that a...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Bihar marked a significant moment in India’s infrastructure narrative, with the launch of development projects collectively worth ₹12,000 crore.  At the center of this transformation stands the newly inaugurated Aunta–Simaria bridge, a six-lane engineering achievement that connects Patna’s Mokama with Begusarai across the Ganga river. More than a regional infrastructure project, the bridge represents a broader reimagining of India's economic geography, logistical efficiency, and rural connectivity. Image Source: PM NaMo on X This bridge has been constructed alongside the ageing Rajendra Setu, which holds the historic distinction of being independent India’s first Ganga bridge. Commissioned in 1959 and named after India’s first President, Rajendra Prasad, the old two-lane rail-cum-road bridge has long served its purpose but is now overwhelmed by modern freight volumes.  The new structure, built at a cost exceeding ₹1,870 cro...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched and dedicated projects worth over ₹12,000 crore in Bihar from the historic city of Gaya, while outlining the government’s national priorities on development, corruption reform, and security.  Image Source: PM NaMo Addressing a public gathering near the Vishnupad Temple, the Prime Minister said the double-engine government of the Centre and Bihar is committed to rapid infrastructure growth, direct welfare delivery, and constitutional accountability in public life.  The development package includes power, healthcare, and industrial projects, alongside the inauguration of a hospital and research centre for cancer care in Gaya. He said the projects are expected to generate employment, strengthen industrial capacity, and improve living standards for people in the region. In his address, Prime Minister Modi announced that more than 16,000 families from Bihar’s Magadh region received new homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojan...