Patna, December 30 (ABN) With the ruling alliance's victory in the Bihar Assembly election, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's record of taking the reins of the state for the tenth time has been not only a significant political event in the state but also in the country's political landscape this year.

At the beginning of the year, Mr. Kumar, who was being ruled out by critics on health grounds, outmaneuvered his opponents on the electoral battlefield with his political acumen and clean image, giving a new boost to development politics in the political debates. Later, political analysts termed this election as a new turn in Bihar politics.

The appointment of young leader Nitin Naveen as the national executive president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also a significant event for Bihar this year.

In 2025, when the entire country's eyes were on the Assembly elections in Bihar, most political pundits predicted that this election would be the last leg of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's political journey, known as "Sushasan Babu". In the election to the 243-seat state assembly held in November, the electoral storm of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) blew away the dreams of the Mahagathbandhan, led by Tejashwi Yadav, who was vying for the chief minister's post, and his allies, including Mukesh Sahni, who was aspiring to become the deputy chief minister, and Prashant Kishor.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav even alleged that Nitish Kumar was merely a "dummy" chief minister of Bihar, while the government was being run by senior BJP leaders and administrative officers from Delhi. Tejashwi Yadav repeatedly said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was in a state of semi-unconsciousness and was unaware of several issues, including law and order, in the state. Jan Suraj leader Prashant Kishor even said that Nitish Kumar's health was not fit to remain the chief minister, and if this was not true, the government should issue a medical bulletin to refute it.

The BJP did not categorically assure that Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister of Bihar after the election, despite the opposition's relentless attacks on the NDA's chief ministerial candidate. Union Home Minister and former BJP national president Amit Shah gave the opposition a big political issue by saying, before the announcement of the election schedule, that the newly elected NDA MLAs would elect their leader after the election.

On the announcement of the election results, the NDA, led by Nitish Kumar, achieved a resounding victory, and the numerical strength of his party increased from 43 in the previous assembly election to 85. The Mahagathbandhan, the second major claimant to power, was reduced to just 35 seats. With the strength of the Janata Dal (United), the NDA got a magnificent majority on 202 seats, and after that, the BJP had no option but to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister again. Consequently, he took the oath of office on November 20 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

Nitish Kumar faced severe challenges from the opposition before and after the assembly election. The opposition parties alleged that he had failed to implement the liquor ban and maintain law and order, saying that women were not safe in Bihar. In response, the chief minister took several measures, resulting in the police administration providing various facilities for women's safety. To create a sense of economic security among women, the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana was launched, under which the chief minister himself transferred Rs 10,000 into the accounts of women.

He also promised that women whose employment would run smoothly would be given Rs 2 lakh for business separately in the next six months. Although the Mahagathbandhan tried to create a narrative that this was not a grant but a "loan," it apparently had no significant impact on the public. The impact of various schemes run for women was that 71.6% of women voted in this election, about 9% more than male voters (62.8%).

Before the election, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had promised to provide 200 units of free electricity to every household, which was having a significant impact on the people. To counter this, Nitish Kumar not only announced that every household would get 125 units of free electricity but also implemented it. The NDA benefited from the implementation of this promise before the election.

The year 2025 turned out to be a nightmare for the RJD. This year, a rift was seen in the family of party national president Lalu Prasad Yadav. On May 25, Lalu Prasad Yadav expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party and the family. Tej Pratap Yadav, who was suspended from the RJD for six years, announced his new party, "Jan Shakti Janata Dal," on September 26. He contested the election from the Mewa assembly seat but lost. The rift in the Lalu family not only affected Tej Pratap but also Lalu's daughter Rohini Acharya, who had to leave home.

Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of alleged vote theft in the special summary revision (SSR) of the voter list before the election, visiting several districts in Bihar. However, he could not make it a strong electoral issue. Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, a "Voter Adhikar Yatra" was organized. During the yatra, the opposition alleged that the Modi government was weakening democracy by deleting names from the voter list. The yatra started from Sasaram on August 17 and ended in Patna, the capital, on September 1. Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, was trying to deprive the poor of their right to vote in Bihar.

The entry of Prashant Kishor this time made the contest seem tripartite. He launched the "Bihar Badlav Yatra" from Sitabdiara, the birthplace of Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), on May 20. Initially, he drew the attention of a large section of voters by raising issues like employment, migration, and corruption. Before the election, Prashant Kishor leveled corruption charges against four senior NDA leaders. He accused Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad, Minister Mangeswar Pandey, Minister Ashok Choudhary, and BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal of being involved in various corruption cases.

It seemed that Prashant Kishor would play the same role in this election that Chirag Paswan had played in the 2020 assembly election, but as the election drew near, the situation changed. After Prashant Kishor announced that he would not contest the election, voters felt that the Jan Suraj party's patron was not in the fray. Many voters were looking for a third alternative, but when they realized that voting for Jan Suraj would be a waste, they decided not to vote for the party, which eventually drew a blank.

In the Bihar Assembly election, while the NDA achieved a resounding victory and returned to power, the Mahagathbandhan completely disintegrated. Even before the election was announced, it seemed that there was a severe lack of trust among the Mahagathbandhan allies, and a tug-of-war was ongoing. Tejashwi Yadav wanted to lead the alliance, but the Congress was not willing to play a supporting role. Even the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief, Mukesh Sahni, and the Left parties began to demand their share openly. The VIP chief even demanded 60 seats and the deputy chief minister's post.

The dispute over seat allocation became a cause for the rift in the Mahagathbandhan. The allies could not make a formal announcement of seat allocation on time. The rift between the RJD and the Congress grew so wide that talks between them remained suspended for several days, and eventually, they fielded candidates against each other in several seats. In this election, there was a "friendly" contest between Mahagathbandhan candidates in 11 seats, and the NDA candidates won all those seats.

In this election, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan sailed through the electoral river by boarding the NDA boat. In 2020, Upendra Kushwaha's party, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), was reduced to zero, while Chirag Paswan's party got only one seat. This time, Chirag Paswan got 19 seats, while Upendra Kushwaha won four seats.

Despite Tejashwi Yadav's best efforts, the RJD's performance was dismal, and the party was reduced to just 25 seats, barely enabling it to become the opposition leader. In the Bihar Assembly, with a total of 243 members, a party needs to win at least 25 seats to become the opposition leader, which the RJD managed to achieve.

After the election results, the BJP made significant changes in its organization, appointing young leader and five-time MLA Nitin Naveen as the party's national executive president. Nitin Naveen has also been a minister in the Nitish government. Similarly, another young leader, Sanjay Saraogi,