• Cites peaceful polling with no violence or recounts, though concerns over election fairness persist
• Opposition shocked as Congress suffer major setback, alleging unfair and rigged elections

NEW DELHI: The Bihar assembly results on Friday strengthened Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position in his coalition government, mocked a drastically weakened opposition, but once again kept the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a secondary role in the crucial north Indian state.

Modi had announced his plan for military action against Pakistan from Bihar, a move that led to Operation Sindoor. It remains unclear whether the Bihar election results will help calm tensions along the border.

The outcome shocked the opposition, whose leaders — principally the Congress party’s Rahul Gandhi and former chief minister Lalu Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav — had hoped to secure a winning margin by accusing the BJP of rigging the elections with the alleged connivance of the Election Commission.

Deepankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), was the first opposition leader to publicly admit his surprise at the verdict. The verdict is also expected to bring relief to big businesses whose close ties with Modi had come under scrutiny during the campaign. NDTV — now owned by industrialist Gautam Adani — questioned Rahul Gandhi’s low visibility during the polls. India Today published a fact-check investigating whether he had flown to London; a Congress spokesperson clarified that a photo of him at Heathrow was from September.

Rahul Gandhi later appeared on X, criticising what he called an unfair electoral process. “I express my heartfelt gratitude to those millions of voters in Bihar who expressed their trust in the Mahagathbandhan. This result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning. This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy.”

The BJP said it had gained significantly on a platform of job creation and economic revival for the perennially backward state, securing 89 seats — up from 74 in the 243-member assembly.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2025