The 2020 Bihar assembly election came up with a surprising and deeply competitive outcome. The NDA emerged winner with a narrow cross above the majority mark. The numbers exposed the fragile balance of power in the Indian state.
Vote share and seat scramble
When the counting concluded, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) emerged winners in 125 seats out of 243. It is just three seats above the majority mark of 122. The opposition, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), led the Mahagathbandhan emerged victorious in 110 seats.
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The statistics showed that the vote shares were 37.26 % for the NDA and 36.58 % for the opposition. It is a mere difference in percentage gap that separates the two coalitions. A total of 20 seats were won by less than 1% of the vote, 40 by less than 2%, and 52 by fewer than 5,000 votes. Eleven seats had margins under 1,000 votes.
Party-wise breakdown
The BJP won 74 seats, constituting the strongest position in the alliance. The JD(U) won 43 seats. This showed a heavy fall in numbers compared to the past performances. The RJD emerged winner in 75 seats. It suggested a strong ground presence but was still not enough for the formation of a new government.
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The Congress won 19 seats, CPIM-L won 9 seats, and AIMIM won 5 seats in the 2020 polls. These statistics highlighted how small margins and highly localised contests can decide outcomes in a first-past-the-post system. The election exposed changing dynamics of voter discontent, and coalition arithmetic and caste factor, therefore making the results more unpredictable than ever.
The 2020 Bihar assembly election was not a landslide but a cliff-hanger instead. The NDA narrowly crossed the line. The Bihar 2020 election is a case of Indian electoral politics showing that each vote and every constituency is crucial.
