Patna: If this is any solace to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Election Commission of India (ECI) has revealed figures that show the party secured the highest percentage of votes in the Bihar Assembly elections. While the RJD’s vote share was 23%, the BJP secured 20.08% and the JD(U) 19.25%.
However, this did not convert to seats. While the RJD won only 25 of the 143 seats it contested, the BJP topped in 89 of its 101 constituencies. The JD(U) won 85 seats.
The RJD’s vote share percentage dipped slightly from the 23.11% it received in the 2020 polls, where it emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. The BJP’s vote share went up from 19.46% in 2020 and the JD(U) showed a significant improvement from the 15.39% it garnered five years ago.
Now, this highest vote share does not necessarily indicate that the RJD was the most popular party in Bihar. Had that been the case, this share would have got converted into seats.
This simply means that RJD candidates may have won with larger margins and in a chunk of constituencies, it might have come second, giving a close fight.
Another reason for Tejashwi Yadav’s party getting a higher vote share than the BJP or the JD(U) is the number of seats it contested this time. The RJD fielded its candidates on 143 seats this time, the most among any party within either bloc. The BJP and the JD(U) negotiated an equal seat-sharing this time, fighting on 101 seats each.
Thus, the RJD contested 42 seats more than the BJP and JD(U) and accumulated more votes in those seats. Even losing candidates add to the vote share.
However, as a unit, involving Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, the NDA’s combined vote share is around 46-47%, while the Mahagathbandhan got only 35.89%. This is enough reason for the RJD to feel that it was let down by allies like the Congress, VIP and the Left parties.
Another interesting revelation is that the RJD received more than 1.15 crore (1,15,46,055) votes in these elections. The BJP, in comparison, got 1,00,81,143 votes and the JD(U) 96,67,118.