NDA regains ground in Shahabad as smaller parties split oppn vote

Buxar: The performance of the BSP, Jan Suraaj and several independent candidates in most seats of the Shahabad region, comprising Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur and Rohtas, has weakened the electoral prospects of the Grand Alliance (GA). The region sends 22 MLAs to the assembly. This time, the NDA surprised many by winning 19 of these seats, marking a strong recovery. In the 2020 polls, the GA had won 20 seats.

The opposition’s past success in the region had reflected the revived organisational strength of the CPI (ML), a GA partner with a traditional support-base among Kushwaha and SC voters. However, the 2025 results indicate fractures in CPI (ML)’s influence over both groups and raise questions about its ability to transfer cadre votes to allies.


Candidates fielded by Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj troubled both the NDA and the GA in several seats while the BSP’s performance in at least eight seats appears to have obstructed the GA’s attempts to counter NDA’s renewed strategies.

In Kaimur’s Ramgarh seat, BSP nominee Satish Kumar Yadav won, while in Mohania, RJD-supported independent Ravishankar Paswan, son of former MP Chhedi Paswan, lost to BJP nominee Sangita Kumari by a margin of 18,752 votes. The BSP candidate secured 32,263 votes. Mohania borders Uttar Pradesh, a factor that often boosts BSP’s appeal.

Buxar, which also shares its border with UP, shows a similar pattern. BSP candidate Abhimanyu Kumar secured more than 29,000 votes, weakening the GA’s chances. Though he is from the Kushwaha community, his association with the BSP appears to have attracted SC voters, both groups the GA typically counts on through CPI (ML).

In Dumraon, BSP candidate Dadan Yadav secured more than 11000 votes, impacting the GA’s prospects. He drew support from sections of Yadav and SC voters. In 2020, CPI (ML)’s Ajit Kumar Singh had won the seat, but this time JDU’s Rahul Singh defeated him by just over 2000 votes.

In Bhabhua, BSP nominee Vikash Singh secured more than 39,000 votes, contributing to BJP candidate Bharat Bind’s victory over RJD nominee Virendra Kumar Singh by 24,415 votes.

In Rohtas’s Karahgar seat, BSP nominee Uday Pratap Singh finished second with 56,809 votes. Although JDU’s Basistha Singh won by 35,676 votes, both BSP and Jan Suraaj performed strongly.

One of the closest contests emerged in Bhojpur’s Sandesh seat, where JDU’s Radha Charan Seth defeated RJD’s Dipu Singh by only 27 votes. Jan Suraj secured more than 6000 votes here.

In Barhara, also in Bhojpur, the presence of two independent candidates affected both the NDA and GA. NDA’s Raghvendra Prataap Singh defeated RJD’s Ashok Singh by 14,403 votes, while the two independents together polled more than 18,000 votes.

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