Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan
| Photo Credit:
–
Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has delivered one of the most striking performances in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, winning 16 seats and leading in three more, effectively carrying forward the momentum it built during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Contesting 29 seats, the LJPRV’s tally marks a dramatic turnaround from the 2020 Assembly elections, when the undivided LJP managed to win just one seat. The subsequent split in the party led to the emergence of Chirag Paswan’s faction, which has since consolidated the support of the Paswan community, comprising roughly 5-6 per cent of Bihar’s electorate and historically loyal to the Paswan political lineage — from Ram Vilas Paswan to his son.
Although the LJPRV’s performance is aligned with the NDA’s overall strong strike rate, the results may cause unease within the Janata Dal (United). Chirag Paswan, who once described himself as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hanuman, dealt a significant blow to Nitish Kumar in 2020 by contesting separately from the NDA and cutting into the JDU vote, a move many analysts believe added to the JDU’s reduction to 43 seats that year.
Given that history, political observers say sections of the JDU may have preferred a weaker Chirag Paswan in 2025. Instead, his performance now gives him substantial leverage in State government formation. The 43-year-old leader had already signalled his intentions before the polls, declaring: “I don’t see myself in national politics for long. The only reason I came into politics was Bihar and Biharis.”
Political maturity
The latest results also reflect Chirag’s growing political maturity — echoing the legacy of his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, who led the LJP to its best-ever performance of 29 seats in the 2005 Assembly elections. The party’s fortunes declined thereafter, winning two seats in 2015 and three in 2010, before Chirag’s revival bid began.
In the 2025 polls, the LJPRV won 16 seats in Sugauli, Govindganj, Belsand, Kasba, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Bochahan, Darauli, Mahua, Bakhri, Nathnagar, Bakhtiarpur, Dehri, Sherghati, Rajauli and Gobindpur, and was leading in Parbatta, Chenari and Obra at the time of the Election Commission’s 8:33 pm results update.
Analysts say Bihar’s dalit political landscape is clearly witnessing the rise of a new-generation leader in Chirag Paswan. Like his father, he appears acutely aware that his national significance hinges on securing and expanding the Paswan dalit base within Bihar’s power matrix.
The other smaller NDA ally — Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) — lead by Union Minister Jitan Ram Majhi, too, has done well, winning 5 seats in the polls.
Published on November 14, 2025