On the other side, the INDIA bloc had a challenging morning. The RJD, despite contesting aggressively, led in fewer than 40 seats, well below expectations and a sharp fall from its earlier claim of being the state’s strongest individual party. Tejashwi Yadav trailed by a slender margin in Raghopur, adding symbolic weight to the opposition’s troubles. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav, contesting in Mahua, trailed far behind, placed a distant fourth. The Congress, contesting 61 seats and entering into multiple friendly fights with allies, performed poorly, leading in fewer than 10 seats.
The broader INDIA bloc struggled to translate its narrative into ground-level traction. As the NDA strengthened its march toward victory, the contrast became stark: confidence and symbolism on one side, disarray and diminishing relevance on the other. By midday, it was clear that Bihar’s political winds were blowing decisively in the NDA’s favour.
As counting advanced and Patna absorbed the shifting mood of the day, the capital’s visual landscape became an unofficial referendum on Nitish Kumar’s political centrality. What stood out was not merely the volume of posters but the orchestration behind them — a coordinated assertion that unfolded almost as precisely as the election trends themselves. Each poster attempted to freeze a political moment: a long-serving chief minister reclaiming narrative dominance amid an NDA wave where the BJP was numerically stronger but strategically deferential.
The JD(U)’s messaging machine appeared intent on reminding both allies and adversaries that Nitish Kumar’s leadership was not a negotiable variable, but the axis around which the alliance’s Bihar strategy revolved. Even BJP leaders, aware of the sensitivities within the coalition, responded with calibrated admiration, reinforcing rather than challenging the projection. As the NDA’s seat leads crossed the halfway mark with ease, the posters acquired an air of inevitability, as though Patna’s streets were pre-writing the day’s political conclusion. For party workers, they became celebratory symbols; for analysts, they signalled a deliberate attempt to script the post-result power dynamics. Across the city, the visuals declared without subtlety that the political story of the day, and perhaps the term ahead, remained centred on Nitish Kumar.
(With inputs from agencies)