The dust has barely settled on the Bihar assembly elections of November 2025, yet the political reverberations continue to echo across the state and the nation. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has emerged with a resounding victory, sweeping 202 out of 243 seats—a mandate so decisive that it has redrawn the state’s political map, according to reporting by The Times of India. At the heart of this triumph is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which not only became the single largest party with 89 seats but also achieved an unprecedented strike rate of over 90%. For Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the architect of the BJP’s campaign, the result cements his reputation as one of India’s most formidable political strategists.
Shah’s campaign was nothing short of a political marathon. As detailed by The Times of India, he chaired more than 20 divisional and district-level meetings, addressed 35 rallies, and participated in a total of 46 campaign events. It was a war-room style operation that left no stone unturned. "From the day the election was announced, he chaired over 20 divisional and district-level meetings, held closed-door huddles with workers, addressed 35 rallies, led a roadshow, and participated in a total of 46 campaign events," the report noted. Shah’s meticulous approach ensured that by the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to campaign, the BJP’s organizational machinery was already humming, the narrative was set, and the emotional connection with voters was firmly in place.
But even the most airtight campaign faces turbulence. The BJP had to contend with growing anti-incumbency sentiment directed at Nitish Kumar, the chief minister from its ally, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U). Over a hundred rebels threatened to undercut the party’s prospects. Shah responded by camping in the state capital for three days, meeting with dissidents individually and persuading them to fall back in line. He also worked to heal the rifts between JD(U) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), smoothing over the fractures left by the 2020 election cycle and presenting a cohesive NDA front.
The NDA’s campaign was not just about high-level strategy; it was built on granular social engineering and outreach. As reported by The Times of India, months before the campaign officially began, the BJP and its allies launched a detailed exercise in caste arithmetic. Outreach to Extremely Backward Communities (EBC) stretched for forty continuous days, while Mahadalit, Pasi, and Paswan voters were engaged through the LJP’s grassroots leaders and carefully chosen candidates. Koeri-Kurmi voters were consolidated through joint JD(U)-BJP efforts, and the BJP’s upper-caste base was reinforced through targeted organizational meetings. Welfare-based messaging, particularly among women, and security assurances aimed at certain segments of Muslim voters further chipped away at traditional opposition strongholds.
All of this was wrapped in a narrative arc that Amit Shah personally shaped. Development promises—new medical institutions, flood-control projects, upgraded rail and road networks, industrial expansion, and airport upgrades—were paired with sharp criticism of the opposition’s record. Shah consistently invoked themes of “jungle raj,” dynastic politics, corruption, and failures on employment. In the final days, he declared, "November 14 would mark the political washout of the RJD and Congress families," a prediction that proved prescient when the results came in.
Yet, as the NDA and BJP celebrated, a chorus of skepticism began to rise. Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj party and a former election strategist, voiced concerns about the integrity of the results. Speaking to India Today on November 24, Kishor claimed, "Prima facie, some people are saying this. But I do not have proof. We can see something (wrong) has happened. But what exactly is wrong, we don't know. But this is not adding up." He pointed to discrepancies between voting trends and the feedback his party had received. Kishor’s party, which contested across Bihar, failed to win a single seat, with 236 of its 238 candidates forfeiting their deposits—a striking statistic that added fuel to his doubts.
Kishor cited specific numbers that he found suspicious. "Eight BJP MLAs get more than 1 lakh votes, both Deputy CM's got almost 1,22,000 votes (1,22,480 and 122,408 votes). Somethings are not adding up," he said. Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary won 122,480 votes, defeating RJD’s Arun Kumar by 45,800 votes from the Tarapur seat. Another Deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Kumar Sinha, received 122,408 votes in Lakhisarai, beating Congress’s Amresh Kumar by about 25,000 votes.
Beyond the numbers, Kishor raised concerns about the conduct of the election itself. He suggested that the opposition should scrutinize not just the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but the entire process—from the creation of the electoral roll to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, the voting process, and the release of polling data. "In fact, from the time of making electoral toll to implementation of Model Code of Conduct, voting process, percentage and the fact that in the last hour apparently recording 10-15 per cent extra poll...17 C data is not released for three days.. all these things require a very serious thinking that can one expect a fair result in such an election," Kishor argued.
Kishor also leveled a serious accusation at the NDA, alleging that the alliance distributed money to thousands of women voters. "From the day the election was announced till voting day, women were handed ten thousand rupees. Even that amount wasn't enough for what they were being promised. They were told they would receive two lakh rupees in total, and this ten thousand was just the first instalment. If they voted for the NDA and Nitish Kumar, they would get the rest. In Bihar, or anywhere in the country, I don't recall a government ever handing out money like this to 50,000 women," he told India Today.
In the wake of his party’s poor performance, Jan Suraaj dissolved all its organizational units from the panchayat to the state level. Spokesperson Syed Masih Uddin announced that new units would be formed within the next month and a half, following a national council meeting chaired by state president Manoj Bharti and attended by Kishor.
Kishor’s remarks found an echo in the words of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who described the Bihar verdict as "truly surprising" and alleged that the election "was not fair from the very beginning." The Congress party, part of the opposition INDIA bloc, won just 6 out of the 61 seats it contested.
Despite the swirling allegations, the NDA’s landslide stands as a testament to the power of organization, narrative, and relentless electoral management. Yet, the skepticism voiced by Kishor and others ensures that the debate over Bihar’s 2025 mandate is far from over—raising questions not only about this election, but about the very nature of electoral fairness in India’s largest democracy.
