The ruling National Democratic Alliance has made major gains in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in Bihar's recent Assembly elections. Out of 40 reserved seats—38 for Scheduled Castes and 2 for Scheduled Tribes—the NDA won 35 seats in total, while the Opposition Mahagathbandhan managed only 5 seats. This marks a dramatic shift from the 2020 elections, when the contest was much closer. Five years ago, the NDA had secured 21 SC seats compared to the Mahagathbandhan's 17. The undivided Lok Janshakti Party, which ran independently in 2020, had split votes without winning any seats. This time, regional allies within the NDA performed strongly. The JD(U) won 13 SC seats, the BJP secured all 12 it contested, and smaller allies also contributed. Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan's performance declined sharply, with the RJD winning just 4 SC seats and the Congress failing to secure any.
NDA Allies Dominate Reserved Seats; Opposition Struggles
The Janata Dal (United) emerged as the leading NDA partner in SC seats, winning 13 out of 16 it contested, a significant improvement from 8 seats in 2020. The Bharatiya Janata Party achieved a perfect record by winning all 12 SC seats it fought, up from 9 in the previous election. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) won 5 of 8 SC seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) won all 4 SC seats it contested. In contrast, the Mahagathbandhan's performance was poor. The Rashtriya Janata Dal won only 4 SC seats despite contesting 20. The Congress, CPI(M-L)L, and CPI failed to win any SC seats they contested. In two constituencies, the Mahagathbandhan faced internal contests between its own allies.
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