What happened in 2020 Bihar Election, and how loyalties have changed since

The Bihar Election 2025 will be held in November, the Election Commission formally announced on Monday, October 6. The elections to 243 assembly seats in Bihar will be held in two phases. Voting in the first phase will be held on November 6, and voting for the second phase will be held on November 11. The Bihar Election Results 2025 will be declared on November 14.

As the Election Commission sounded the poll bugle, here's a flashback at what had happened in the last Bihar Elections (in 2020).

Who won in 2020 Bihar Election?

The Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the single-largest party in the 2020 Bihar Election. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the second-highest votes.

However, since the 202 elections, the number of MLAs that each political party has in the Bihar assembly has changed significantly, keeping in view that many political leaders switched their parties over time.

MLA numbers shifted since 2020 Bihar polls

Here's who won how many seats in the 2020 Bihar Elections, and how do the numbers stack up right now? These numbers were sourced from the Election Commission and Bihar Vidhan Sabha websites.

The BJP, a member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), improved its position between the 2015 and 2020 polls. It won 53 of 157 seats it contested in 2015 and 74 of 110 seats in 2020.

The RJD also showed a strong performance, having won 80 of 101 seats it contested in 2015 and 75 of 144 seats it fielded candidates in the 2020 polls.

Meanwhile, the JD(U) saw a dip in its performance in the last two state elections. Nitish Kumar's party won 71 seats of 101 it contested in 2015 and 43 of 115 in the 2020 polls.

The Congress also experienced a decline in performance, having won 27 seats in 2015 and then 19 seats in 2020.

As per news agency PTI, the RJD was the dominant party in terms of high-margin victories in 2015. Tejashwi Yadav's party had then secured 29 seats with a margin greater than 15 percent.

However, in 2020, the BJP won the most high-margin seats, securing 19 seats by a margin greater than 15 percent, the report added.

Who was part of NDA, INDIA in 2020 Bihar Election?

In the 2020 Bihar election, the NDA secured a majority in the assembly, winning 125 seats, with Nitish Kumar again taking oath as Chief Minister.

BJP, JD(U), HAM and VSIP formed the NDA in the2020 polls. Meanwhile, the Congress, the RJD and the left parties formed the Opposition INDIA bloc in the 2020 Bihar polls.

Change in NDA, INDIA dynamics since 2020 Bihar Elections

Since the 2020 Bihar elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has swapped his alliance twice — in 2022 and 2024.

He had formed the Bihar government in 2020 after forging an alliance with the NDA. The key parties that formed the NDA back then were the BJP, JD(U), and HAM.

In August 2022, Nitish Kumar, dubbed "Paltu Ram" in political spheres, severed ties with the BJP and left the NDA to join hands with the RJD-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan. Tejashwi Yadav was then appointed Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister.

However, Nitish Kumar's romance with the RJD lasted short of two years. In January 2024, Nitish Kumar switched sides again, coming back to the NDA just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Now, in 2025, with the entry of a new player in Jan Suraaj, this election promises to be a close contest, with the smaller parties expected to play a crucial role in the formation of the next government.

Bihar Election 2025: Full Schedule