The 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections have concluded, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) securing a landslide victory, winning 202 out of 243 seats.
However, the elections also saw some high-profile leaders failing to secure their seats. Here are some of the most notable defeats:
1. Tej Pratap Yadav (Mahua)
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's elder son and Janshakti Janta Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav was on Friday relegated to the third spot in Bihar's Mahua seat, with LJP (RV) candidate Sanjay Kumar Singh defeating RJD's Mukesh Kumar Raushan by 44,997 votes.
Tej Pratap, who recently floated his political outfit after being expelled from the RJD by his father, polled 35,703 votes, while Singh bagged 87,641 votes and Raushan got 42,644 votes, according to the Election Commission.
For a leader who once held ministerial office and comes from Bihar's most famous political family, slipping to third place turns Mahua into one of the headline defeats of 2025.
हमलोग बिहार के संपूर्ण विकास के लिए पूर्ण रूप से समर्पित और तत्पर हैं। हमारा मकसद बिहार में संपूर्ण बदलाव कर एक नई व्यवस्था का नव निर्माण करना है।
हमलोग बिहार के संपूर्ण विकास के लिए लंबी लड़ाई लड़ने को तैयार हैं।#tejpratapyadav #janshaktijantadal #biharelection pic.twitter.com/GxsQHw0WqQSeptember 25, 2025Advertisement2. Khesari Lal Yadav (Chapra)
Bhojpuri actor-singer Khesari Lal Yadav (Shatrughan Yadav) entered the fray from Chapra on an RJD ticket amid massive media buzz and social-media hype. But BJP's sitting MLA Chhoti Kumari held the seat, winning around 86,845 votes to Khesari's roughly 79,245 votes, as per official tallies cited by ECI.
क्या हार में क्या जीत में,
किंचित नहीं भयभीत मैं,
संघर्ष पथ पर जो मिला,
ये भी सही वो भी सही…
जनता मेरे लिए तब भी सर्वोपरि थी, आज भी है और हमेशा रहेगी! मुद्दा तब भी उठल बा, आगे भी उठी...जय बिहार! 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/DkLtZdLnezNovember 14, 2025 3. Rajesh Kumar (Kutumba)
The election was tough for the Congress overall – it fell from 19 seats in 2020 to just six seats in 2025. Adding to that blow, the party's state leader Rajesh Kumar lost Kutumba, the very seat he was leading from, as the official results table notes. Lalan Ram from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) polled 84,727 votes while Rajesh Kumar received 63,202 votes
For a party trying to rebuild in the Hindi heartland, a state chief losing his seat in a landslide NDA wave is symbolically one of the biggest setbacks of the contest.
Advertisement4. Ran Kaushal Pratap Singh (Lauriya)
In Lauriya, all eyes were on Ran Kaushal Pratap Singh of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), widely reported as the richest candidate in the 2025 election. As per ECI, BJP's Vinay Bihari defeated Singh by 26,966 votes, winning 96,510 votes in the constituency.
5. Shivani Shukla (Lalganj)
RJD fielded Shivani Shukla, daughter of well-known Bahubali Vijay Kumar Shukla (Munna Shukla), from Lalganj in Vaishali district – a classic example of a high-profile dynastic pick. She lost to BJP's Sanjay Kumar Singh by 32,167 votes, according to ECI data tally.
VIDEO | Bihar Elections 2025: Jailed strongman Munna Shukla's daughter and RJD candidate from Lalganj Assembly seat Shivani Shukla says, "The issues that I am taking to the public are education, health, infrastructure -primarily the drainage system - and then employment. My… pic.twitter.com/BTjgDvIWIa
November 1, 20256. Manish Kashyap (Chanpatia)
YouTuber Tripurari Kumar Tiwary, better known as Manish Kashyap, contested from Chanpatia on a Jan Suraaj Party ticket. He failed to win the seat, though he was among the few Jan Suraaj candidates to cross 10% vote share.
7. Uday Narayan Choudhary (Sikandra)
Former Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, a seasoned Dalit leader, shifted from his long-time turf Imamganj to contest Sikandra in Jamui. It turned out to be a miscalculation. He lost to Prafull Manjhi of HAM (Secular) by 23,907 votes.
Candidates With Close Victory Margin
At least three Bihar assembly seats witnessed a winning margin of less than 100 votes, while the closest contest was decided by below 250 votes in three other constituencies.
The Sandesh seat in Bhojpur district saw a neck-and-neck fight with JD(U) nominee Radha Charan Shah winning it by a margin of just 27 votes over his nearest rival Dipu Singh of the RJD.
Shiv Prakash Ranjan of the CPI(ML) Liberation lost the Agiaon seat in Arrah to BJP candidate Mahesh Paswan by a whisker, as the margin was just 95 votes.
The Ramgarh assembly seat saw a victory margin of 30 votes for Bahujan Samaj Party's nominee Satish Kumar Singh Yadav. Ashok Kumar Singh of the BJP tasted defeat in the constituency.
In the Nabinagar assembly seat, JD(U)'s Chetan Anand defeated his nearest rival Amod Kumar Singh of RJD with a margin of 112 votes.
RJD's Faisal Rahman bagged the Dhaka seat, defeating Pawan Kumar Jaiswal of the BJP by a margin of just 178 votes.
BJP's Vidya Sagar Keshari lost the Forbesganj assembly seat to Congress nominee Manoj Bishwas by just 221 votes.
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