T he outcome of the Bihar assembly election is unprecedented in several ways. The Nitish Kumar-led NDA (BJP-89, JDU-85, LJP-19, HAM-5, RLM-4) won 202 seats, but the Tejashwi Yadav-led INDIA (RJD-25, Congress-6, CPL (ML)- 2, CPM (1), IIP-1) alliance managed only 35 seats. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has won 5 seats, and the BSP has won 1 seat. It was a historical election and needs critical examination. We need to ask why the opposition’s employment-focused campaign failed.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), once a prominent representative of Mandal politics, now finds itself in a political era where welfare, good governance, and new aspirations are overshadowing old caste equations. The party has failed to build a broad social coalition to bring together extremely backward a

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