Bihar Election 2025: Maithili Thakur in lead; Khesari Lal Yadav, Ritesh Pandey struggle - how celebrity candidates fared amid NDA sweep

NEW DELHI: Celebrity candidates in the Bihar assembly polls witnessed mixed fortunes, with only singer Maithili Thakur, contesting from Alinagar on a BJP ticket, poised for victory. Others — including actor-singer Khesari Lal Yadav (Chapra) and singer Ritesh Pandey (Kargahar) — were trailing in their respective constituencies.

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Alinagar

Maithili Thakur had secured 49,673 votes after 14 of 24 rounds of counting and was leading RJD’s Binod Mishra, who had polled 42,364 votes, according to the Election Commission’s website. Independent candidate Saifuddin Ahmed was a distant third with 1,520 votes.


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The seat was won by Abdul Bari Siddiqui (RJD) in 2010 and 2015, while Mishri Lal Yadav (VIP) clinched it in 2020.

Chapra

RJD’s Khesari Lal Yadav (real name Shatrughan Yadav) was in second place with 19,439 votes after 7 rounds of counting, with 21 rounds still to go. BJP’s Chhoti Kumari was leading with 24,537 votes, while independent candidate Rakhi Gupta trailed far behind with 1,268 votes.

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The seat was won by CN Gupta (BJP) in both 2015 and 2020.

Kargahar

Among the three celebrity contestants, Ritesh Pandey — contesting for the debutant Jan Suraaj Party of strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor — appeared the least likely to win. He was placed fourth with 6,935 votes, trailing JD(U)’s Bashisth Singh by 38,647 votes, with 15 rounds counted and 15 remaining.

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The sitting MLA, Santosh Kumar Mishra (Congress), has been fielded again by the party.

Bihar assembly polls 2025

Voting took place in two phases — November 6 and 11 — with 121 constituencies going to the polls in the first phase and 122 in the second. Counting began on Friday and is still underway.

The ruling NDA is heading toward a landslide victory, with its candidates leading in over 200 out of 243 seats, delivering a major blow to the opposition Mahagathbandhan coalition.

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