The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delivered a resounding performance in the Bihar Assembly elections, with the majority of its 101 candidates securing emphatic wins across the state. However, 12 party nominees fell just short of victory, with a few losing by razor-thin margins as tight as 30 and 178 votes, according to Election Commission data.
Despite these individual setbacks, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) achieved a sweeping victory. Out of 243 Assembly seats, the NDA secured 202, cementing its dominance in Bihar’s political landscape.
12 BJP Candidates Who Lost
- Ashok Kumar Singh- Ramgarh
In Ramgarh, BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh lost a thriller to Bahujan Samaj Party’s Satish Kumar Singh Yadav by just 30 votes after a see-saw battle.
- Pawan Kumar Jaiswal- Dhaka
Similarly, in Dhaka, Pawan Kumar Jaiswal of the BJP lost by 178 votes to RJD’s Faisal Rahman despite a formidable tally of 1,12,549.
- Vidya Sagar Keshari- Forbesganj
Vidya Sagar Keshari suffered a heartbreaker in Forbesganj, trailing Congress’s Manoj Bishwas by only 221 votes.
- Umakant Singh- Chanpatia
In Chanpatia, BJP’s Umakant Singh fell short by 602 votes against Congress candidate Abhishek Ranjan.
- Vinod Kumar- Baisi
The Baisi seat saw AIMIM’s Ghulam Sarwar hand BJP’s Vinod Kumar a decisive defeat by a margin of 27,251 votes.
- Haribhushan Thakur- Bisfi
Haribhushan Thakur, contesting from Bisfi, trailed RJD’s Asif Ahmad by 8,107 votes despite securing a strong 92,664 votes.
- Sweety Singh- Kishanganj
In Kishanganj, BJP’s Sweety Singh polled 76,875 votes but lost to Congress’s Md Qamrul Hoda by 12,794 votes.
- Alok Ranjan- Saharsa
Over in Saharsa, Alok Ranjan faced a narrow defeat of 2,038 votes at the hands of Indrajeet Prasad Gupta from the Indian Inclusive Party, who polled 1,15,036 votes.
- Aruna Devi- Warisaliganj
Former minister Aruna Devi lost the Warisaliganj seat to RJD’s Anita by 7,543 votes.
- Dr. Raviranjan Kumar- Goh
In Goh, BJP candidate Dr. Raviranjan Kumar was defeated by RJD’s Amrendra Kumar, with the margin standing at 4,041 votes.
- Bina Devi- Kochadhaman
Bina Devi, contesting from Kochadhaman, finished third after polling 44,858 votes. AIMIM’s Md Sarwar Alam won the seat with 81,860 votes, while RJD’s Mujahid Alam secured second place with 58,839 votes.
- Satish Kumar- Raghopur
BJP's Satish Kumar lost to RJD's Tejashwi Yadav by a margin of 14,532 votes following an initial neck-and-neck fight in Raghopur. Kumar polled 1,04,065 votes.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, followed by its ally JD(U) led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which bagged 85. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) clinched 19 seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha won five and four seats respectively.
Among the prominent NDA winners were Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, key ministers Prem Kumar, Maheshwar Hazari, and Sanjay Saraogi, along with BJP’s Maithili Thakur.