Union Minister Chirag Paswan shows a victory sign at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport in Patna. PTI file photo
'Vote katwa' to 'kingmaker': Chirag Paswan stuns Bihar leading in 23 out of 26 seats
LJP's surprising comeback from the margins will give Chirag Paswan substantial political heft, shifting his status from 'vote katwa' to a key force within NDA
Clearly, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)'s chief Chirag Paswan seems to have come a long way from being called a 'Vote Katwa'.
The results of the 2025 Bihar assembly elections are showing that the party has sprung a huge surprise by leading in 23 constituencies out of the 29 seats it has contested.
Vote katwa to kingmaker
Though analysts had predicted that Chirag Paswan may very well turn out to be the 'kingmaker' in this election. However, this was not the case in the past.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 2024, Chirag Paswan too had won all the five seats he had contested. But this change of fortune has come after a string of losses in the earlier Bihar assembly elections – his party had won just one Assembly constituency seat in 2020, two in 2015, and three in 2010. This had earned him the title of 'vote katwa' in Bihar's political arena.
Also read: No friendly fight: Chirag Paswan's dig at Grand Alliance over RJD-Congress seat overlap
However, his powerful comeback in the 2025 Bihar election is expected to give him substantial political heft in the formation of the government in the state. His party is also expected to expand its footprint across the state.
LJP leading in 23 seats
Currently, Chirag Paswan's party is leading on Rajaoli, Bodh Gaya, Gobindpur, Sherghati, Obra, Dehri, Nathnagar, Parbatta, Balrampur, Kasba, Bahadurganj, Simri Bakhtiarpur, Darauli, and Sugauli in the Bihar election 2025. The LJP appears to be dominating in Govindganj, Belsand, Darauli, Bochahan, Garkha, Mahua, Fatuha, and Bakhtiarpur.
With Chirag Paswan in the lead in 23 seats of Bihar, and the Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in 75 and 84 constituencies respectively, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to sweep this Bihar election.
Also read: 'Homebound' Chirag’s ambitions, seat demands stir trouble in Bihar NDA
Before the 2025 Bihar elections, reports said that Chirag Paswan was angling for 40 seats from the NDA alliance threatening to fight the elections alone. However, the LJP now seems to have showed that it is a political force to reckon with in Bihar.
RJD leads in 36 seats
Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading in 36 constituencies with Congress trailing far behind with just seven leads.