Nitish Kumar is now almost certain to return as the Chief Minister of Bihar, with his personal credibility playing a major role in the NDA’s success in the recent elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity also strengthened the alliance, contributing to its decisive victory. Together, the influence of these two leaders has cleared the path for a stable NDA government in the state.
Nitish Kumar is set to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Bihar, further reinforcing his image as a leader known for good governance. The welfare programs launched during his tenure appear to have resonated with voters. Although opposition parties dismissed these schemes as mere freebies, the electorate did not view them that way.
This election also marked a shift in the relationship between the JD(U) and the BJP. Both parties performed almost equally well, securing 89 and 85 seats respectively in the 243-member Assembly, indicating that they now hold comparable political strength. Earlier, the BJP was thought to be weaker than Bihar’s major regional parties. Even in the 2020 elections, the BJP had surprised many by winning 74 seats, considerably more than the JD(U)’s 43.
The coalition formed in 2020 reflected this imbalance: the BJP held more ministerial positions while the JD(U) had fewer. This time, however, the situation has changed. Both parties contested an equal number of seats—101 each—establishing a sense of parity from the beginning. Yet, in terms of leadership, Nitish Kumar remained the unquestioned choice for Chief Minister, and this continues after the current election results.
Another important factor is the JD(U)’s support to the Modi government in the Lok Sabha, which strengthens the Centre’s majority. Because of this interdependence, power sharing between the JD(U) and the BJP in Bihar is expected to be more balanced, with ministerial portfolios likely to be divided more evenly than before.
This time, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party has also won 19 seats in the NDA, while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM party has won five seats and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLP has won four. Therefore, the formula emerging is that Chirag’s party should be given two ministerial positions in the government, while HAM and RLP should each receive one. The formation of a government in the state is now expected by November 20th, as Nitish Kumar’s outgoing government submitted its resignation to the Governor today. He will remain as acting Chief Minister until further arrangements are made, but this arrangement is expected to be finalized on November 20th. One reason for this is that the term of the outgoing assembly expires on November 22nd.
Elections in the state have already been completed, and the Election Commission has submitted the list of 243 newly elected members to the Governor. The new MLAs will now be sworn in after November 20th. According to the current NDA government formation formula, Nitish Kumar’s new cabinet will have an equal number of ministers from the JD(U) and the BJP, with two ministers each from the LJP and one each from the parties of Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha. This will maintain cabinet balance. However, this time, the Home and Finance portfolios will go to the BJP. The decision on whether this party will have two Deputy Chief Ministers is still to be made. In the previous government, the BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha and Samrat Chaudhary were the two Deputy Chief Ministers. Both of these leaders won these elections with a landslide majority. As for Samrat Chaudhary, the opposition has leveled serious allegations of corruption and misconduct against him.
Vijay Sinha was also surrounded by allegations from the opposition. But the victory of both the elections proves that the general public has not taken these allegations seriously. Nevertheless, the BJP high command has not yet made any final decision in this regard. The BJP also wants to create its own strong regional leadership in the state. Till now this position is lying vacant in the BJP. It is also believed that the BJP may try its luck by appointing a new leader as Deputy Chief Minister. In the previous government, the BJP had 22 ministers while the JD(U) had only 12. But this time the JD(U) will have an equal number of ministers. It will be interesting to see which other important departments the BJP will keep with itself apart from Home and Finance.
