Story so far: While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept Bihar by winning 202 seats on Friday (November 14, 2025), there are ten seats where the lead was less than 1,000 votes.
For the Mahagathbandhan, which won only 35 seats, five of these victories came from Bodh Gaya (881 votes), Jehanabad (793 votes), Dhaka (178 votes), Forbesganj (221 votes) and Chanpatia (708 votes). The coalition claimed it was “voting the sick” and promised to present “concrete evidence within two to three weeks” after studying data from across Bihar.
For NDA, BJP won 89 seats, JDU (85 seats), LJP (RV) (19 seats), HAMS (5 seats) and RLM (4 seats). Of these 202 seats, five were closely contested – Nabinagar (112 votes), Sandesh (192 votes), Agiaon (95 seats), Balrampur (389 votes) and Bakhtiarpur (980 votes). The BSP’s only victory was also won by a slim margin of 30 votes.
Here’s a look at the narrow wins –
Mahagathbandhan (MGB)
Bodh Gaya: Three-time RJD MLA Kumar Sarvajeet won by a margin of 881 votes against Shyamdeo Paswan of LJP (RV). Mr Sarvajeet, who won the seat for LJP in 2005 and for RJD in 2015 and 2020, got 1,00,236 votes
Jehanabad: Incumbent RJD MLA Rahul Sharma barely managed to retain his seat defeating JDU’s Chandeshwar Prasad by 793 votes and 86,402 votes. Jehanabad has been an RJD stronghold since 1995 (except 2010-2015) and the fight has been tough as JDU has fielded Mr Prasad – former MP from Jehanabad. RLJP’s exit from the Mahagathbandhan made it difficult for the RJD to retain the Paswan vote in the area.
Dhaka: The closest battle for MGB was seen in this East Champaran seat where RJD’s Faisal Rahman managed to regain his seat defeating BJP’s Pawan Jaiswal by just 178 votes. Mr Jaiswal and Mr Rahman have been contesting against each other for Dhaka since 2010, taking turns to win the seat. In 2010 and 2020, Mr. Jaiswal won the seat as an independent and BJP candidate, while in 2015 and 2025, it was won by Mr. Rahman for the RJD. He lost to Mr Jaiswal in 2010 on a JDU ticket.
Forbesganj: Manoj Bishwas of Congress managed to wrest the seat from incumbent BJP MLA Vidya Sagar Kesari by a margin of 221 votes. Poll debutant Mr. Bishwas polled 1,20,114 votes and managed to wrest the stronghold of the BJP, which it has held since the 1990s (except 2000).
Chanpatia: Congress’s Abhishek Ranjan – a newcomer, won another narrow victory defeating incumbent BJP MLA Umakant Singh by a margin of 602 votes. With 87,538 votes, Mr. Ranjan managed to wrest the seat from the BJP, which has held it since 2000.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Nabinagar: A swing seat falling under Aurangabad region, JDU’s Chetan Anand won Nabinagar by defeating RJD’s Amod Kumar Singh by a margin of 112 votes. Since 1995, the mandate has alternated between the JDU and the RJD – with the former winning it in 2010, 2015 and 2025 and the latter in 2000, 2005 and 2020.
Sandesh: Breaking the Left RJD’s hegemony in this Bhojpur seat, JDU’s Radha Charan Sah won by a margin of 192 votes defeating RJD’s Dipa Singh. Since 1985, this seat has been held by either the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (1995, 2005) or the RJD (2000, 2005, 2015, 2020).
Agiaon: After recapturing the old BJP seat from the Left, Mahesh Paswan won the Bhojpur seat with a narrow margin of 95 seats defeating the incumbent CPI(ML) Liberation MLA Shiv Prakash Ranjan.
Bakhtiarpur: A key swing seat in the Patna region, LJP(RV) Chirag Paswan managed to win it for the NDA by defeating the incumbent RJD MLA Aniruddh Kumar by 981 votes. Since 1995, the seat has been alternately won by either the RJD or the BJP.
Balrampur: This Seemanchal seat, which falls under Katihar district, saw a three-way battle between LJD(RV)’s Sangita Devi, incumbent CPI(ML) Liberation MLA Mahbub Alam and AIMIM’s Mohammad Adil Hasan. With just 389 votes, Sangita Devi managed to win the seat, while Mr. Hasan, who got 80,070 votes, came second. Mr Alam lost the seat by 1,318 votes, with 79,141 votes polled.
Apart from the two coalitions, the Bahujan Samaj Party, which contested 192 of the 243 seats, clinched its only victory in Ramgarh by a margin of just 30 votes. BSP’s Satish Kumar Singh Yadav defeated incumbent BJP MLA Ashok Kumar Singh and RJD’s Ajit Kumar. The seat, which the RJD has won since 1985 (except in 2015 and 2024), has come as a face-saver for the BSP, which has been reduced to single-digit victories in Bihar since 2005.
Published – 15 Nov 2025 19:11 IST
