‘Election Commission favours BJP’: Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on NDA’s victory in Bihar polls

MANGALURU: State Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) following the NDA’s landslide victory in Bihar, alleging that the poll body favoured the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He also said that the poll body allowed the BJP to gain an unfair advantage by distributing government funds to voters through schemes.

Speaking to the reporters, Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We have seen how the Election Commission favours the BJP. They gave the BJP a chance to buy votes with government money… If the BJP contests the election just after giving women Rs 10,000, Rs 20,000, or Rs 30,000 through some scheme, how can that be a fair election? Why hasn’t the Election Commission taken action regarding this?”

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a historic landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar elections, winning 202 of the 243 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan could only secure 35 seats. The alliance secured a three-fourths majority in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, marking the second time the NDA crossed the 200-seat mark in state polls. In 2010, it had won 206 seats.

In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.

Among opposition parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, the Indian National Congress six, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) [CPI(ML)(L)] two, the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) one, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] one seat.

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one seat.

The Bihar assembly elections were conducted across two phases on November 6 and 11, respectively. Bihar recorded a historic 67.13 per cent voter turnout, the highest since 1951, with women voters outpacing men (71.6% vs 62.8%). (ANI)