Counting of votes continues for Bihar Assembly Election 2025Held in two phases on 6 November and 11 November. Trends suggest that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United) – is likely to form the government again in the state.
Also read: Bihar Election 2025 Result Live Updates
The Grand Alliance, which includes the Indian National Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, is in second place, while Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party is yet to make its mark.
While the final results for the seats were finalized in the evening, trends have emerged that point towards probable winners on several important seats. We take a look at these key battles and candidates.
Raghopur
In RJD’s home turf and stronghold Raghopur, there is a tough fight between RJD’s acting chief Tejashwi Yadav and BJP’s Satish Kumar Yadav. After 9 rounds of counting (out of 30), Satish Kumar Yadav is leading by a slight margin of over 2200 votes.
Tejashwi is contesting for the third time from the seat which was earlier held by both his parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. His main rival Satish Kumar Yadav emerged as a big hitter in 2010 when he defeated Rabri Devi by a margin of 13,006 votes. Since then, he has been losing to Mr Tejashwi continuously in 2015, 2020.
Others in the fray include JSP’s Chanchal Singh and Prem Kumar of Tejashwi’s brother Tej Pratap’s Janashakti Janata Dal (JJD). With its large Yadav population, RJD has held the seat since 1998 (except 2010–2015).
Alinagar
In her electoral debut, 25-year-old Bihari folk singer Maithili Thakur, who joined the BJP in October, is leading over RJD stalwart Binod Mishra in Alinagar by a margin of about 8500 votes.
In her campaign, Ms Thakur has promised to rename Alinagar as Sitanagar in tribute to Goddess Sita, whose birthplace is believed to be in the Mithila region. JSP’s Viplav Kumar Chaudhary and AAP’s Rajipal Jha are also in the fray.
Alinagar, falling under the Darbhanga region, has a large Muslim population and has been held by the Grand Alliance since 2008, with RJD’s Abdul Bari Siddiqui winning it twice (2010 and 2015) and VIP’s Mishri Lal Yadav winning it in 2020. As soon as the BJP fielded Ms Thakur for the seat, Mr Yadav – who had joined the NDA in 2022 – resigned from the BJP.
thorn
An impressive 71.92% voter turnout was witnessed in Kanti, which is seeing a tough contest between former JDU state cabinet minister Ajit Kumar and outgoing RJD MLA Mohammad Israel Mansouri. Mr. Kumar is leading by more than 11 thousand votes, while Mr. Mansoori is in second place. Sudarshan Mishra of Jan Suraj Party is in third place.
Sultanganj
A fight is being seen between JDU and RJD in Sultanganj. JDU’s Lalit Narayan Mandal is leading by about 8000 votes while RJD’s Chandan Kumar Sinha is trailing.
Munger
A swing constituency and part of the Bihar industrial belt, Munger is seeing a fight between BJP’s Kumar Prannoy and RJD’s Avinash Kumar Vidyarthi. Till the time of writing, Kumar Prannoy is leading by about 7000 votes, while Shri Vidyarthi is at second place. Independent Santosh Kumar Mandal is at third place while Jan Suraj Party’s Sanjay Kumar Singh is at fourth place.
Katihar
A tough contest was expected in Katihar with many parties fielding candidates. Former Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad (BJP), Vikassheel Insaan Party’s Saurav Kumar Aggarwal, independent Dr Ram Prakash Mahato, People’s Party of India (Democratic)’s Manisha Kumari, Jan Suraj Party’s Dr Ghazi Shariq, All India Majlis-e-Inquilab-e Millat (AIMIM)’s Ahmed Raza and Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajesh Gurnani are in the fray.
BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad, who has also held several ministries in previous governments, is currently leading with over 3000 votes.
Mahua
The contest on RJD’s stronghold Mahua seat was believed to be between Lalu Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav of JJD and RJD’s outgoing MLA Mukesh Kumar Roshan. However, the candidate fielded by the NDA, Sanjay Kumar Singh of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), is leading both the candidates with about 17,000 more votes than Mr Roshan, who is in second place.
In third place is Tej Pratap Yadav, who was expelled from the party and family for ‘irresponsible behaviour’ and launched his own organization JJD in October.
siwan
BJP’s Mangal Pandey, who was the health minister in the outgoing state government, is leading over outgoing RJD MLA Awadh Bihari Chaudhary by a margin of over 11,000 votes in the Muslim-dominated Siwan constituency. Others in the fray include AIMIM’s Kafi Samsheer and JSP’s Intekhab Ahmed.
This marks the electoral debut for Mr Pandey, who has been an MLC since 2012, while Mr Choudhary, a veteran RJD leader and former Assembly speaker, has won the seat six times (1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2020).
Mokama
JDU’s Anant Kumar Singh is leading over RJD’s Veena Devi by more than 22,000 votes.
The Mokama battle became infamous in the last few weeks after gangster-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh was arrested for the murder of JSP supporter Dular Chand Yadav. He was also convicted in 2022 for possessing weapons, resulting in his disqualification as an MLA, after holding the seat as an RJD member since 2005. Mr Singh switched to JD(U) in 2024.
Mr Singh’s main rival is Veena Devi, wife of gangster Surajbhan Singh. Apart from this, Priyadarshi Piyush of JSP is also in the fray.
Bettiah
Bettiah is proving to be an important battleground for the NDA versus the Grand Alliance, where sitting MLA Renu Devi (BJP) is leading over Vashi Ahmed of Congress by just 2000 votes. Independent candidate Rohit Kumar Sikariya is in third place while Anil Kumar Singh of Jan Suraj Party has slipped to fourth place.
jamui
In Jamui, outgoing MLA and champion shooter Shreyasi Singh (BJP) is contesting from RJD’s Mohammad Shamshad Alam. The Commonwealth medalist is leading by a huge margin of around 26000 votes. In second place is Mr Alam, who targeted migration and underdevelopment as key issues. Anil Prasad Sah (Jan Suraj Party) is at third place.
Jamui, a swing constituency in the rural area affected by Naxalite activity, is considered a litmus test for the BJP to maintain its hold against the grand alliance’s message on socio-economic issues. There was heavy turnout in this constituency during the elections.
Muzaffarpur
In the urban center of Muzaffarpur, considered a BJP stronghold, party candidate Ranjan Kumar is leading over Congress’s Bijendra Chaudhary by a margin of about 15,000 votes. Dr. AK Das of Jan Suraj Party is in third place.
Motihari
Motihari is considered a testing ground for Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party, with JSP candidate Atul Kumar sidelined in the BJP versus RJD battle. BJP’s Pramod Kumar is leading by more than 6000 votes, while RJD’s Deva Gupta is in second place.
Sitamarhi
In swing seat Sitamarhi, BJP’s Sunil Kumar Pintu is leading over RJD’s Sunil Kumar Kushwaha by more than 11 thousand votes. Mr Pintu, a former MLA who has won the seat three times, had lost to Mr Kushwaha in 2015.
Outgoing Sitamarhi MLA Mithilesh Kumar, who often switched sides between BJP and RJD, has been removed by BJP.
Jehanabad
In Jehanabad, an area dominated by Muslims and Yadav community, RJD’s Rahul Kumar is leading over JDU’s Chandreshwar Prasad by a slim margin of about 2400 votes. Abhiram Singh of JSP is in third place. Pramod Yadav was fielded on this seat by Pashupati Nath Paras’ Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which was out of the Grand Alliance.
Jehanabad is considered a stronghold of the RJD, which has held the seat since 1995, except for the period between 2010 and 2015.
Belaganj
RJD’s Vishwanath Kumar Singh is leading over JDU’s sitting MLA Manorama Devi by about 3400 votes. Apart from this, Mohammad Shahabuddin of JSP is also in the fray.
This is a rematch of the 2024 by-election, which was held after eight-time MLA Surendra Prasad Yadav was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jehanabad. His son Mr Vishwanath was defeated by Ms Manorama, wife of late gangster Bindeshwari Prasad Yadav.
family
The Kutumba seat (reserved for the Scheduled Castes), falling under the Aurangabad region, is seeing a fight between the Congress and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), smaller members of their respective alliances. Former JDU MLA Lalan Ram, who is now with Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party Hums, is leading over sitting Congress MLA and Congress state chief Rajesh Kumar by a margin of over 9000 votes. Apart from this, Ram Janam Ram is also in the fray, who has been fielded by Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram).
Mr Kumar was considered as a possible deputy CM in the grand alliance government. Mr Ram had earlier lost to Mr Kumar in the 2020 elections after contesting as an independent.
Imamganj
Jitan Ram Manjhi’s daughter-in-law Deepa Kumari of Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) is leading by a margin of over 16,000 votes over RJD’s Ritu Priya Chaudhary in Imamganj, which is considered Mr Manjhi’s constituency. JSP has fielded Dr. Ajit Kumar.
Imamganj, an NDA stronghold, has been with JDU and later HAMS since 1990, when Uday Narayan Choudhary first wrested it from Congress’s Srichand Singh. Ms Manjhi’s electoral battle was tough in the by-elections held in November last year, when JSP’s Jitendra Paswan got 20% of the votes, giving Ms Manjhi victory by less than 6000 votes.
Araria
JDU’s Shagufta Azim is leading by a slim margin of about 2600 votes over sitting Congress MLA Abidur Rehman, who is seeking his third term. JSP has fielded Farhat Ara Begum, while AIMIM has fielded Mohammad Manzoor Alam in Muslim-dominated Araria, which is located in the poverty and flood-hit Seemanchal region.
Kishanganj
Congress’s Mohammad Qamrul Hoda is leading over AIMIM’s Shams Aghaz by 20,000 votes. Apart from this, Sweety Singh of BJP and Mohammad Ishaq Alam of JSP are also in the fray.
Another seat in Seemanchal, Kishanganj is a grand alliance stronghold which has never been won by the BJP. Kishanganj, a Muslim-dominated constituency, has always had a Muslim MLA and Congress’s Izharul Hussain won in 2020.
Purnia
Outgoing MLA Vijay Kumar Khemka of BJP, who is contesting for the third time, is leading over Congress’s Jitendra Kumar by a margin of about 33,000 votes. Santosh Kumar Singh of JSP is also in the fray.
Purnia is a communist-turned-NDA stronghold which has influenced the trend in the general Seemanchal area. The NDA has promised to build an international base in Purnia to retain the seat for the eighth time.
Patna constituency
Patna Sahib
BJP’s Ratnesh Kumar Kushwaha is leading over Congress’s Shashant Shekhar by about 23 thousand votes. Vineeta Mishra of Jan Suraj Party is in third place.
A major urban constituency of the state capital, Patna Sahib has long been a BJP stronghold. With a large base of professionals, youth and middle class voters, the seat is expected to gauge the BJP’s urban appeal and the changing political mood in the capital.
The trends in other constituencies of Patna region are as follows:
Bakhtiyarpur
Arun Kumar of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is leading over Anirudh Kumar of RJD. JSP Balmiki Singh is in third place.
Bankipur
BJP’s Nitin Nabeen is leading from RJD’s Rekha Kumari. Vandana Kumari of JSP is at third place. Aam Aadmi Party has also made its candidate – Pankaj Kumar.
Digha
Sanjeev Chaurasia of BJP is leading, while Divya Gautam of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) is in second place. Jan Suraj Party has fielded Ritesh Ranjan ‘Bittu’ Singh.
potter
BJP’s Sanjay Kumar is leading from Congress’s Inderdeep Kumar Chandravanshi. JSP fielded Krishna Chandra Sinha.
Fatuha
Rupa Kumari (Ram Vilas of Lok Janshakti Party) is leading from Dr. Ramanand Yadav of RJD. Raju Kumar of JSP is in third place.
