NEW DELHI – In a strong show of support for the NDA’s development-focused pitch, BJP candidate Chhoti Kumari secured a third straight win from the Chapra assembly seat in Bihar’s Saran district. She defeated RJD’s Bhojpuri film star Khesari Lal Yadav (who contested as Shatrughan Yadav) by a margin of 7,600 votes.
Kumari received 86,845 votes, while Yadav finished with 79,245. The result was declared after 30 tense rounds of counting and reinforced the BJP’s tight hold over this politically sensitive region along the Saryu river, at a time when the NDA swept Bihar with an impressive tally of 202 seats.
The Chapra outcome came in the middle of a sweeping victory for the Nitish Kumar-led NDA alliance, which went past the 200-seat mark in the 243-member assembly. The Mahagathbandhan, a bloc of RJD, Congress, and smaller partners, was left with only 35 seats. Bihar registered its highest-ever turnout at 66.91 per cent, with women voting at an even higher rate of 71.6 per cent.
Poll experts see this verdict as a shift towards performance and governance, and away from pure caste calculations. For Chapra, a general category constituency under the Saran Lok Sabha seat, the result is seen as a personal win for Kumari, a ground-level leader known for her work on roads, irrigation, and basic facilities in rural areas.
A star-studded battle: celebrity power vs three-term MLA
The Chapra battle turned into one of Bihar’s most-watched contests, with the low-key yet seasoned Chhoti Kumari facing Khesari Lal Yadav, a major Bhojpuri star with a huge fan following. Backed by the RJD, the 39-year-old actor entered politics to convert his popularity in this Yadav-heavy belt into votes.
His campaign relied on folk performances, roadshows, and promises that included job reservations for local youth. Large crowds followed him across the constituency.
However, a controversial comment from Yadav hurt his prospects. He compared Lalu Prasad Yadav’s so-called “Jungle Raj” era to Nitish Kumar’s government, describing it as a “ransom survival” phase. The remark drew sharp criticism. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said it showed the “true anarchic face” of the Mahagathbandhan, while Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh asked voters to weigh Bihar’s “dark past” against what he described as “Modi-Nitish progress”.
Kumari, aged 52 and a former schoolteacher, chose a different approach. She highlighted visible improvements such as the upgraded NH-19 that has eased traffic for pilgrims heading to the Hariharnath temple, new irrigation channels that have supported higher kharif output, and training centres that have reduced migration of local youth to brick kilns in Punjab.
“This is not about glamour, it is about public service,” she said after winning, surrounded by cheering BJP supporters waving saffron flags. Jan Suraaj Party candidate Jai Prakash Singh, from Prashant Kishor’s outfit, finished a distant third with fewer than 5,000 votes, underlining JSP’s poor show across Bihar with zero seats despite a loud and ambitious campaign.
Chapra recorded 68 per cent turnout in Phase 1 polling on 6 November, higher than the 62 per cent turnout in 2020. Women voters outnumbered men at several polling stations in the Taraiya and Parsa blocks. Early counting trends showed Kumari leading by only 974 votes after postal ballots, but her advantage rose steadily and touched 6,100 by evening. By around 8:45 pm, her victory was confirmed.
Echoes from Saran: from Lalu bastion to NDA stronghold
Chapra’s politics carry a long history. It was once considered a safe seat for Lalu Prasad Yadav, whose 1977 win from this region helped launch his political career. The seat began tilting towards the NDA after 2010. In the 2020 election, BJP leader Dr C. N. Gupta retained the seat with a margin of 6,771 votes, during the period when Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav were on opposite sides.
This time, four of Saran district’s six MLAs belong to the NDA, including the BJP in Marhaura and the JD(U) in Amnour, reflecting the wider mood across Bihar. According to local booth managers, Yadav voters, who form about 15 per cent of the electorate, largely stayed with the RJD.
On the other hand, upper-caste Rajputs, estimated at 20 per cent, and OBC Kushwahas moved towards the BJP in large numbers. Muslim voters, roughly 12 per cent, did not vote as a single block, with a section said to have supported the NDA on what they viewed as development-related promises.
The Chapra win also strengthens Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary’s position among Rajputs in nearby Tarapur, where he won by around 25,000 votes. The result, however, brought its own share of irony.
Khesari Lal Yadav’s graceful concession post on Facebook, “हार में न जीत में, किंचित नहीं भयभीत मैं” (Neither in defeat nor in victory am I afraid), drew about 50,000 likes, hinting that his popularity among fans remains strong. Within the RJD, there is talk of internal blame, even as Tejashwi Yadav’s third straight win from Raghopur, by a margin of 14,532 votes, offered limited comfort in a difficult election.
NDA’s Bihar sweep: development beats dynastic politics
Across Bihar, the NDA’s final tally touched 202 seats, with BJP winning 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, and smaller allies taking 9. This surpassed its earlier high in 2010. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the outcome as a “victory of good governance and social justice” and praised what he called the “Mahila-Youth” (women and youth) alliance of voters, contrasting it with the opposition’s traditional focus on the “MY” (Muslim-Yadav) social base.
Nitish Kumar, looking at a possible ninth term as Chief Minister, said that “Bihar’s Ganga now flows towards progress, not old-style politics”.
On the other side, the Mahagathbandhan struggled, ending with RJD on 25 seats, Congress with 3, and other allies with 7. Rahul Gandhi spoke of “unfair elections” and alleged that the voter list revision carried out under the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision had removed 65 lakh names.
Analysts in the opposition camp point to the NDA’s detailed outreach efforts. Around 1,200 women sarpanchs were active in WhatsApp groups, and Narendra Modi held six rallies focused on the idea of “Viksit Bihar 2047”. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which contested 194 seats, failed to win any, matching his earlier warning that the party was still in its early stages.
Economists highlight that Bihar recorded 10.6 per cent GDP growth under the NDA government, which built a sense of hope, even though unemployment is still at 7.2 per cent.
What lies ahead: continuity, concerns, and expectations
Chhoti Kumari’s return to the assembly means stability for Chapra’s roughly 3.5 lakh voters, many of whom live below the poverty line, estimated at about 40 per cent. She has promised to push for a “Saran Smart City” project and better connectivity with Patna through new expressways. Yet, the constituency faces serious challenges.
Fields near the river are prone to flooding, school dropout rates hover around 22 per cent, and reports of rising opioid use among young people worry families and local leaders.
While drums beat and laddoos are distributed at the BJP office in Patna, the RJD speaks of a period of review and self-examination. For now, Chapra reflects the broader mood in Bihar, where voters have backed the NDA’s promise of growth and development. As Chhoti Kumari put it in her victory message, “The people have given their verdict, they want development, not drama.”
