The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections witnessed historic victory margins, breaking all previous state records. The average winning margin reached 20,940 votes, while the median margin stood at 18,510 votes, surpassing the benchmarks set during the 2015 polls. This landslide favored the ruling NDA, particularly the Janata Dal (United) led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The JD(U) nearly doubled its seats from 43 in 2020 to 85 in 2025, with its average margin soaring from under 12,300 votes to over 23,620 votes. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, recording an average margin of 23,000 votes. Meanwhile, the opposition Mahagathbandhan faced a significant setback. The RJD, which had won 75 seats in 2020, secured only 25 seats this time, with drastically reduced margins. Congress dropped to just 6 seats from 19. Despite the dominant victories, Bihar also saw 31 constituencies decided by margins under 5,000 votes, including 11 seats where the difference was below 1,000 votes, underscoring competitive battles in certain pockets.
NDA Parties Dominate with Record-Breaking Margins
The JD(U) posted the highest average winning margin among major parties at 23,620 votes, and its median margin rose to 22,550 votes. This dramatic improvement likely resulted from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) rejoining the NDA after contesting independently in 2020 and splitting votes in 32 seats. The BJP followed closely with an average margin of 23,000 votes and median of 21,860 votes, improving significantly from 2020 figures of 19,360 and 16,300 votes respectively. The LJP(RV) won 19 of 28 contested seats, recording an average margin of 20,930 votes, a remarkable jump from winning just one seat narrowly in 2020. The widest individual victory came in Rupauli, where JD(U)'s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal won by 73,572 votes. Fifteen NDA seats were won by margins exceeding 50,000 votes.
Opposition Struggles and Narrow Contest Outcomes
The RJD saw a sharp decline, winning only 25 seats compared to 75 in 2020, with its average margin dropping from 16,360 votes to 10,190 votes. Congress's poor performance was reflected in its reduced average margin of 7,200 votes from 13,550 votes previously. Despite high voter turnout, 31 seats were decided by less than 5,000 votes. The Mahagathbandhan lost 16 such close contests, while the NDA lost 14. The tightest race occurred in Sandesh, where JD(U)'s Radha Charan Sah defeated RJD's Dipu Singh by just 27 votes. In Ramgarh, BSP's Satish Yadav won by 30 votes against the BJP. Notably, AIMIM recorded the highest margins among smaller parties, averaging 29,350 votes across its 5 winning seats.
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