As the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossed the majority mark in the Bihar Assembly Election 2025, celebrations broke out outside the Janata Dal (United) headquarters in Patna.
With the NDA leading in 186 seats as opposed to the Mahagathbandhan's mere 54, what had begun as a cautious gathering of JD(U) workers at the time of vote counting became a full-blown celebration.
Videos showed JD(U) workers bursting firecrackers, playing drums, and smearing gulaal on each other.
Buckets of steaming jalebis came and went, while boxes of sweets were distributed. Workers were also seen blowing conch shells in joy.
“Look, this is a government of good governance. The people have once again voted for development. They have reposed their faith in the developmental work done under the leadership of the honourable Chief Minister, in the NDA under the leadership of respected Nitish Kumar ji and Prime Minister Modi ji,” a JD(U) leader news agency PTI.
A constituent of the NDA, the JD(U) itself was leading in 76 seats at the time of writing this, more than double the number of seats its rival RJD was leading in.
"Nitish ji ki paanchvi jeet likhi ja chuki hai'... bas formalities baaki hain! (Nitish ji's fifth victory is already written... only the formalities remain!" a jubilant worker was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
In a video, workers were also seen 'feeding' sweets to a poster of JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, who is tipped to be the NDA's chief ministerial candidate.
Vote counting for the Bihar Assembly elections began at 8 AM.
Voting took place in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the state registering its highest turnout since its first polls in 1951 at 66.91%. Female voters came out in large numbers this time as well, registering a turnout of 71.6% as opposed to 62.8% for males.
Exit polls had earlier largely predicted a victory for the NDA.
