Pawan Khera says it's ECI vs people as early trends show NDA victory in Bihar polls - ‘Just the beginning’

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Friday described the 2025 Bihar elections as a battle between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the people of the state, as early trends signal a sharp tilt in favour of the BJP-led coalition.

According to the latest trends on the Election Commission's website, the NDA was ahead in 187 assembly seats, while the opposition INDIA bloc was way behind with leads in just 49 seats.

Khera, a member of the All India Congress Committee Working Committee, said that the trends are currently in their early phase. “This is just the beginning, and we are waiting.”

Slamming the poll panel, he said that the early trends indicate that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar Gupta is making an impact on the Bihar elections. “The people have shown great courage despite issues like SIR and ‘vote chori.’ How effective Gyanesh Kumar Gupta will be remains to be seen.”

“This contest is between the Election Commission of India and the people of Bihar,” he added.

Taking a dig at the CEC, Khera said, “There was a book called ‘To Serve with Love.’ Gyanesh Kumar Gupta is writing this book for PM Modi.”

The NDA's tally in Bihar comes in the backdrop of the BJP’s back-to-back stupendous performances in Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana.

Firm backing to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team also appeared to have paid rich dividends for the JD(U), which seems poised to drastically improve its tally since 2020, when it had won only 43 seats, but was now leading in more than 70.

The LJP(RV), headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, the self-declared “Hanuman” of the Prime Minister, was leading in over 20 seats, a stellar show taking into consideration the fact that it had contested only 29.

The RJD, which has been priding itself on being the “single largest party” despite being in the opposition, seems to be putting up a dismal show, with a lead in fewer than 40 seats, though it had contested more than 140.

The Congress, which had contested 61 seats, engaging in “friendly fights” with allies in many of these, has lived up to its reputation of being dead wood in Bihar, with a lead in less than 10 seats.

If trends are converted into results, the BJP will be outperforming the JD(U) in a second consecutive election, which may give rise to a clamour from within the cadres for having their “own chief minister”.