Behind NDA’s splendid win in the Bihar Assembly election is BJP’s aggressive strategy and the impact of the Modi–Nitish pair. The big credit for this victory is being given to BJP strategist Dharmendra Pradhan. The two who played an important role at the ground level in strengthening the organisation and candidate selection.
The saffron party has decimated the opposition in yet another state with its shrewd political strategy and ruthless booth-level management. After winning 74 seats in 2020, the BJP is now projected to touch 93 seats — its personal best in Bihar. The NDA has comfortably crossed the magic majority mark and surged past the 200-seat milestone.
Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan has suffered a complete rout, with the Congress embarrassingly down to less than 5 seats and the RJD struggling to hold even 27. But the NDA’s sweeping victory is not just the result of Nitish Kumar’s welfare schemes — it also reflects the BJP’s aggressive, precision-crafted strategy that dominated the narrative from day one.
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What led to BJP’s victory in Bihar?
In the Bihar Assembly election, the BJP unleashed one of its most aggressive campaigns in recent years, relentlessly targeting the Mahagathbandhan on governance, law and order and vociferously reminding the voters of the Jungle Raaj. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp attacks on the opposition over Lalu’s infamous era proved decisive, reviving memories of the law-and-order breakdown associated with the RJD era. The message struck a chord across caste and regional lines, especially among young voters and first-time women voters who have grown up in a post-Jungle Raj Bihar.
At the same time, the Modi–Nitish partnership worked as a stabilising and reassuring force. The combination of Modi’s national authority and Nitish Kumar’s on-ground welfare delivery and ‘Sushasan Babu’ image created a dual appeal — trust at the top and credibility at the grassroots. This synergy helped the NDA cut across traditional vote banks and convert floating voters in its favour, leading to a sweeping mandate. NDA strategists also ruthlessly used women to breakdown the caste equation in the state by wooing them with direct payment transfer of Rs 10,000.
As the numbers rolled in, it became clear that this victory wasn’t accidental — it was engineered. BJP strategists Dharmendra Pradhan who oversaw the campaign architecture, candidate selection and booth-level mobilisation, have emerged at the centre of the political conversation. Their behind-the-scenes planning, micro-management of constituencies and sharp segmentation of voters are now being credited as key drivers of the NDA’s dominant performance.
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How Dharmendra Pradhan drafted a winning strategy?
Dharmendra Pradhan was appointed BJP’s election in-charge only in Bihar in September, despite having an old connection with Bihar. In 2012, he was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar. Since then he has been strengthening the organisation’s grip in the state. During this period his personal relations with Nitish Kumar became excellent.
In an interview with The New Indian Express, Dharmendra Pradhan broke down the architecture of the NDA’s Bihar campaign into three clear pillars that shaped the alliance’s sweeping performance.
1. Pradhan pointed out that the NDA’s strength in Bihar isn’t sudden and the result of a carefully constructed socio-political coalition dating back to the late 1990s. This long-term engineering has created stable vote banks across OBCs, EBCs, and women, giving the alliance a structural advantage over newer coalitions.
2. By repeatedly invoking the legacy of lawlessness and “misrule” associated with RJD and Congress, the NDA crafted a contrast that resonated with voters who vividly remember those years.
3. Pradhan emphasised that Bihar’s electorate, especially the youth and women, is now driven by aspirations, not just identity. This group seeks delivery, jobs, governance, and continuity. In this climate, the Modi–Nitish partnership projected dependability and development.
Dharmendra Pradhan’s OBC Factor
What makes Dharmendra Pradhan particularly effective in Bihar is that he comes from the same OBC community that has long formed the backbone of Nitish Kumar’s core vote bank. This gave him an intuitive grasp of Bihar’s caste arithmetic and voter psychology. Pradhan didn’t merely oversee the campaign from afar — he recalibrated candidate lists, reworked local alliances, and fine-tuned constituency-level strategies based on ground intelligence.